Return of the Whiskered myotis

on 23rd September 2017

An earlier post documented a Whiskered Myotis Bat (Myotis muricola) roosting inside the rolled-up central leaf of my banana plant (Musa “Pisang Raja”).

Since then I have been keeping an eye of newly emerged leaves before the plant gets too tall for me to monitor its presence. Today, the rolled-up leaf was too high to peep inside, so it had to be gently pulled down. There was a dark mass deep down.

WhiskeredMyotis-banana roll

I used a selfie stick with my iPhone attached and blindly did a video of the centre of the rolled leaf (top). A number of random photo shots were also made. These confirmed the presence of something dark at the base (above).

Screen Shot 2017-09-10 at 2.26.51 PM

Unfortunately, the rough handling of the delicate newly emerged leaf caused the lower leaf blade to split. This made the presence of the bat a little more obvious… and a photo opportunity (above). Slowly peeling off parts of the damaged lower leaf blade exposed the bat clinging on to the inner surface of the leaf (below).

WhiskeredMyotis-banana leaf

Because of the disturbance, the bat suddenly flew off. This was followed by a smaller bat taking off before I could photograph it. There were two Myotis Bats roosting inside the rolled-up central leaf, an adult and a juvenile.

YC Wee
Singapore
10th September 2017

If you like this post please tap on the Like button at the left bottom of page. Any views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors/contributors, and are not endorsed by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM, NUS) or its affiliated institutions. Readers are encouraged to use their discretion before making any decisions or judgements based on the information presented.

YC Wee

Dr Wee played a significant role as a green advocate in Singapore through his extensive involvement in various organizations and committees: as Secretary and Chairman for the Malayan Nature Society (Singapore Branch), and with the Nature Society (Singapore) as founding President (1978-1995). He has also served in the Nature Reserve Board (1987-1989), Nature Reserves Committee (1990-1996), National Council on the Environment/Singapore Environment Council (1992-1996), Work-Group on Nature Conservation (1992) and Inter-Varsity Council on the Environment (1995-1997). He is Patron of the Singapore Gardening Society and was appointed Honorary Museum Associate of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) in 2012. In 2005, Dr Wee started the Bird Ecology Study Group. With more than 6,000 entries, the website has become a valuable resource consulted by students, birdwatchers and researchers locally and internationally. The views and opinions expressed in this article are his own, and do not represent those of LKCNHM, the National University of Singapore or its affiliated institutions.

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