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Bat
Exodus
Relax in the Bat Observatory as you wait for the Bat
Exodus to begin. Expectation builds as the sun moves
towards the horizon and the Bat Hawks take up their
roost on the cliff face, waiting for the first of millions
of bats to begin circling out of the cave.
Twelve species of bats have been recorded
within Deer Cave, including the Wrinkle-Lipped Bat,
a colony of free-tailed bats estimated to number between
2.5 and 3.5 million. Each evening they gather at the
cave entrance in large ring-shaped formations, circling
higher and higher up the cliff face before moving out
across the rainforest in spiraling ribbons.
It has been estimated that nightly each bat consumes
between five and ten grams of flying insects. This
means that million bats will return in the morning
to deposit a huge amount of guano in the cave and provide
a unique ecosystem, home to millions of insects and
their predators.
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The bats leave the cave on most evenings
between 5.30 pm and 6.30 pm but on rare occasions do
not leave at all.
The return trip to park HQ it
is a wonderful time to move through the forest, listening
to the calls of the frogs and insects and often seeing
large numbers of fireflies and stick insects.
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