BATS!!!

I figures this web site needed more bats, so here you go. Did you know that 3 species of bats (1 extinct) are the only mammals native to New Zealand? Ever other mammal was brought by humans.

The long-tailed bats are are, of course, cool. They are a wattled bat and they are related to other species in Australia. They may have blown here during a storm in the distant past and they are now quite common. They use their tail membrane to catch insects as they fly.

The short-tailed bats are even cooler. There are no closely related species. They are the only members of their family, Mystacinidae. They have probably been on New Zealand for much longer, and they evolved in a land with no terrestrial mammals. Therefore, they are the world's most terrestrial bat. They can fly, but they hunt by running around on the forest floor and they live in little burrows! They also eat cool things like wetas, which is a huge insect here.

I went out searching for bats in the Whirinaki on behalf of the Dept of Conservation, but unfortunately, I didn't find any. I hope to try again soon.