Molossus molossus keeps the mosquito levels of our apartment lower than they would be otherwise, as a number of them live under the roof of the building next door. It is also known as the velvety free-tailed bat or Pallas’s mastiff bat. The one that I found on our veranda was small, about the size of my thumb, and a very dark brown, almost black. On St. Martin, the bats that live in buildings and you see in towns are usually this species.

I’m not sure why this one ended up on our veranda, but I took a few photos before leaving him on the ledge of our balcony. After a couple minutes, he climbed to the edge, then hung off the edge and then flew off back to the building where he lives.

In case you didn’t already know, bats are the only native mammals on the island, and there are currently thought to be eight species residing here. After this guy came to visit, I have taken photos of four of the species.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 5th, 2012 at 5:38 pm and is filed under Les Fruits sur la Terre, Pour les Sciences. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.