A lifetime of adventures with bats around the world reveals why these special and imperiled creatures should be protected rather than feared.
From moonshiners and bandits to charging elephants and man-eating tigers, Merlin Tuttle has stopped at nothing to find and protect bats on every continent they inhabit. Enamored of bats ever since discovering a colony in a cave as a boy, Tuttle saw how effective photography could be in persuading people not to fear bats, and he has spent much of his career traveling the world to document them.
Sharing highlights from a lifetime of adventure and discovery, Tuttle takes us to the frontiers of bat research and conservation and forever changes the way we see these poorly understood yet fascinating creatures.
Painted Bat 
Eastern Red Bat and Twins 
A Kitti’s Hog-nosed or bumblebee bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) from Thailand. It weighs only about 2 grams and is often referred to as the world’s smallest mammal, but several other bat species and a species of shrew are of similar size. Field Work, Portraits 
A lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) pollinating saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) in Mexico. Pollination 
A mother little epauletted fruit bat (Epomophorous labiatus) carrying her half grown pup in flight in Kenya. Courtship and Rearing Young 
Spectacled Flying Fox 
A Brazilian free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis). Single huge colonies of these bats can consume over 100 tons of insects nightly, including many crop and yard pests, reducing reliance on dangerous pesticides. Flight 
Author Merlin Tuttle 
Lesser Short-Nosed Bat 
Dwarf Epaultetted Fruit Bat 
A mother little epauletted fruit bat (Epomophorous labiatus) carrying her half grown pup in flight in Kenya. Courtship and Rearing Young 
Pallid Bats can Hear their Prey’s Footsteps. 
Australia’s Flying Fox
“It is simply amazing how quickly attitudes improve when people finally understand bats as they really are—sophisticated, beautiful, even cute, quite aside from their crucial roles as primary predators of insects, pollinators of flowers, and dispersers of seeds.”
–Merlin Tuttle
Discussion Questions:
1). Bats have an image problem. Did you have any preconceived ideas about bats before reading this book? Did the book change any of your preconceptions?
2). The book highlights the ecological, and even economic, usefulness of bats as they eat literally tons of insects each night and serve as efficient pollinators. Why do negative impressions of bats persist? Are those perceptions changing?
3). Some criticize the book as mostly a collection of stories about Tuttle’s past escapades. While it was fun and interesting to read, some may have anticipated current statistics and information, not old stories. Do you share this criticism?
4). Many chapters are dedicated to bat photography and the power of this tool in conservation. Did you find these chapters interesting? Why or why not?
5). The book exemplifies the power of truth. As a tireless bat protector Tuttle explains how sharing his knowledge has turned even bat hunters to his side as shared in the chapter’s regarding the Khao Chong Pran Cave in Thailand and the creation of a National Park in American Somoa. Can you think of other examples where sharing knowledge has had a similar impact?
Khao Chong Pran Cave Emergence of Wrinkle-lipped \Bats 
Samoan Flying Fox
6). Finally, did you like the book? Would you recommend it?
Internet Sources:
Bat Conservation International: http://www.batcon.org/
Bats of Nevada, Nevada Department of Wildlife: http://www.ndow.org/uploadedFiles/ndoworg/Content/Nevada_Wildlife/Animals/Concerns/bat_brochure.pdf
Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation: https://www.merlintuttle.org/
The Fruit Bat Featured on a 2020 Quarter: https://apple.news/A1RcFyzxDRTGp90whyyLPLA
Mexican Free-Tailed Bats 
Bracken Cave Bat-Watching
About the Author:
Dr. MERLIN TUTTLE is an ecologist, wildlife photographer, and conservationist who has studied bats worldwide for more than fifty years. He founded Bat Conservation International in 1982. His work has been featured in Science, the Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, and National Geographic.
Las Vegas Nonfiction Book Club Discussion Questions 