Walking the main street of a small riverside town close to the Prasae estuary in south-east Thailand, I heard a chirping call that could be mistaken for some other animal but really only bats make. It was quiet enough to be easily missed but over the years my ears have become tuned to bat sounds and my nose to their smell so I stopped to investigate.
The sound was coming from inside an old wooden house on the waterfront, one of a long line of close-packed buildings in a very basic, practical style. Most of the others were in use as shop-homes but this one was rundown and creaking with age. The wooden shutters across its front were ill-fitting enough to be able to see the dim interior through a crack. There, hanging on the wooden wall, was a group of several hundred bats. This building’s semi-delapidated state meant enough light was filtering in to allow a good view.
Some of them were black-bearded tomb bats (Taphozous melanopogon) but there might have been another species of tomb bat as well. It's hard to be sure without catching them! Go into any cave in Thailand and tomb bats will be the first ones you see near the entrance. They don’t need total darkness and have this very distinctive, almost cheery, chirping call. They are common and I have even seen them on the outside of buildings in Bangkok but I was still surprised to find this large group quite low down so close to a narrow but busy street with motorbikes constantly zipping up and down just a few metres away.
This was late afternoon so some were still asleep whilst others were active with occasional short flights to new hanging positions. I love the sound these bats make but sticking my face up to the gap meant I got a noseful of their less enjoyable smell. For bats, these guys do have very pleasant faces that almost wear a smile. With their easy-going attitude it gives them a friendly feel.
Looking around the area more I got another surprise. Between the side of this building and the next one there was a narrow gap less than a metre wide and more tomb bats were hanging in the shelter of the over-hanging roof. Even more exposed here it was hard to believe they go unnoticed so easily, although, an old man nearby who showed an interest in what I was doing clearly knew about them. He immediately started clapping his hands to get them to fly for me. I managed to persuade him that wasn’t necessary.
A few other buildings in the area also had tomb bats chirping but I couldn’t actually see them and it never sounded like as a big group.
Early evening, they started leaving out the back of the building over the wide river. They are built to fly fast in the open air so are easy to watch silhouetted against the sunset and flying higher than any of the surrounding buildings. It was lovely to see a sizeable group of animals like this managing to co-exist with us, in this case thanks to the poor repair of a traditional old wooden building.
