A Weekend in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula: Mainly Bats

Chad Johnson I spent a long weekend in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula last month. We were guided by the great Juan Cruzado Cortes, who – after many trips to Mexico with me – may well be responsible for more of my lifers than anyone on the planet.

The trip was arranged at short notice. I still have a longish wishlist of Yucatan species but this time my main target was a Wrinkle-faced Bat.Centurio senex, a spectacular animal and one that I should have seen by now.

Juan set up a short trip targeting several locations where the bats had been caught.

Great Fruit-eating Bat (Artibeus lituratus)

Spoiler alert: We didn’t see a Wrinkle-faced Bat. But we did over 25 species between us including a couple of quality mammals that almost made up for missing Centurio. Almost.

Puerto Morelos

Central American Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi)

Juan picked us up in Cancun and our first stop was the Puerto Morelos Botanic Gardens, where Centurio have been spotted roosting under the shame of palm fronds. No bats but we did see Central American Spider Monkeys and Central American Agoutis.

From there it was a long day’s drive to the border with Belize.

Laguna Om

We visited a large tract o goodf forest about 100km west of Laguna Om (about here), staying in simple cabins that are sometimes used by Jaguar researchers. Juan caught three Centurios in an evening here a year ago.

Things were pretty quiet at the end of February. During two nights we saw a couple of Virginia Opossums and Kinkajous (both common around the cabins) and more Spider Monkeys. My first Yucatan Cottontail darted across the road as we drove in at dusk: these rabbits are uncommon here and much easier to see further north. We also saw a White-nosed Coati ambling along the road as we were leaving.

Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana)

Juan caught five species of bats, including this Sowell’s Short-tailed Bat,

Sowell’s Short-tailed Bat (Carollia sowelli)

and this Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat.

Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat (Artibeus jamaicensis)

He also caught a Thomas’s Naked-backed Bat and a striking Great Fruit-eating Bat.

Great Fruit-eating Bat (Artibeus lituratus)

Along with one Pygmy and one Thomas’s fruit eating (dermanura) bats.

Pygmy Fruit-eating Bat (Dermanura phaeotis)

Thomas’s Fruit-eating Bat (Dermanura watsoni)

A Mexican Funnel-eared Bat was buzzing around inside one of the cabins, as it often does according to Juan.

Mexican Funnel-eared Bat (Natalus mexicanus)

And a small cave next to camp held half a dozen Woolly False Vampire Bats, the second biggest bat in the neotropics.

Woolly False Vampire Bat (Chrotopterus auritus)

Calakmul

We headed north towards Valladolid, stopping in at Calakmul for an hour to see the now reliable Baird’s Tapir in a lagoon next to the road 17km past the entrance gate.

Central American Tapir (Tapirus bairdii)

This road can be productive for mammals. Species like Margay and Greater Grison have been recorded here. With more time I would have spent a night here again (I visited in 2019). It’s also another location where Juan has caught Wrinkle-faced Bat. But time was short and we were heading further north.

Valladolid

Yucatan Vesper Rat (Otonyctomys hatti)

We spent two nights near Valladolid. On the first evening we netted for bats on the edge of a cenote in forest at the El Hormiguero Archaelogical Zone. Juan thought might be the best site in Mexico for Wrinkle-faced Bats.

Common Sword-nosed Bat (Lonchorhina aurita)

As soon as it got dark Chad and I took a walk a thermal scope. Conditions were perfect and within 20 minutes we found a beautiful endemic Yucatan Vesper Mouse. Bright golden with a wonderful tufted tail.

Yucatan Vesper Rat (Otonyctomys hatti)

It froze obligingly for photos.

Yucatan Vesper Rat (Otonyctomys hatti)

We saw what was probably another one 20 minutes later.

I also found a Big-eared Climbing Rat, which – as seems to be the case for most arboreal rodents – also froze while we took photos.

A Virginia Oppossum crossed the trail as we returned to the netting site.

Big-eared Climbing Rat (Ototylomys phyllotis)

Back at the nets Juan was excited. He’d caught a Sword-nosed Bat. One of my most wanted bats and an uncommon species with very few records from the Yucatan. This was not a species on our radar.

Common Sword-nosed Bat (Lonchorhina aurita)

We went on to catch nine animals that night! And Juan saw a mouse opossum species close to the nets while Chad and I were out walking.

The other bats that night comprised Jamaican Fruit-eat Bats and a Mesoamerican Common Mustached Bat.

Mesoamerican Common Mustached Bat (Pteronotus mesoamericanus)

On the drive back to Valladolid we saw a Northern Four-eyed Opossum, a lifer for Chad. Meanwhile Juan saw (and we all missed) a Gaumer’s Spiny Pocket Mouse on the road which would have been a lifer for me.

In Valladolid we had been joined by Juan’s buddy Ismael Arellano, a local guide who was a mine of information on the Valladolid fauna. Thanks to Ismael Chad got his lifer Mexican Porcupine roosting in its usual tree the next day.

Mexican Hairy Porcupine (Coendou mexicanus)

Ismael also took us beehives in the forest where the beekeeper had recently see a Grey Mouse Opossum nesting in abandoned hives. We found two nests but no marsupial. At this point the bees got annoyed and stung all three of the Mexican contingent.

Grey Mouse Opossum Tlacuatzin canescens) nest

We returned that night when the bees were sleeping. Still no opossum but I saw more than ten Big-eared Climbing Rats including this unusually coloured animal.

Big-eared Climbing Rat (Ototylomys phyllotis)

A pair of deer mice dashing around in a tree were likely Yucatan Deer Mice though White-footed Deer Mice are also possible here. We didn’t see the length of the tail well enough to decide.

Yucatan Deermouse (Peromyscus yucatanicus), probably

We spent our last night at the Xuux Peek Ecohotel, where Curtis Hart reported seeing many rodents a few months earlier along with a Yucatan Spotted Skunk. I was expecting big things but the hotel was uninspiring and despite spending several hours walking with a thermal we saw no mammals around the hotel at all, other than several Yucatan Cottontails.

Yucatan Cottontail (Sylvilagus yucatanicus)

The batting, however, was quite good. Juan caught a Northern Yellow-shouldered Bat,

Northern Yellow-shouldered Bat (Sturnira parvidens)

a Common Vampire Bat, 

Common Vampire Bat (Desmodus rotundus)

at Cozumelan Golden Bat,

Cozumelan Golden Bat (Mimon cozumelae)

along with Merriam’s Long-tongued Bats, Jamaican Fruit-eating Bats and another Pygmy Fruit-eating Bat.

Pygmy Fruit-eating Bat (Dermanura phaeotis)

On our way back to Cancun we checked out a patch of forest in the middle of Playa del Carmen, where Juan had seen a Yucatan Brown Brocket Deer a couple of years earlier. The ‘patch’ of forest was tiny and completely fenced in by buildings and .. well… a fence, so basically it was a cage. Whether the cage was there to keep the animals inside, or keep people out, wasn’t clear to me. Juan seemed convinced the animals could come and go as they pleased but unless there was an escape tunnel I couldn’t figure out how that was possible. In the end we didn’t see a brocket deer through the bars of the enclosure, but even if we had there is no way I would have counted it.

Stuff We Missed

We missed quite a lot that I was hoping or half hoping to see species including Mexican Mouse Opossum, Grey Mouse Opossum, Yucatan Brown Brocket Deer, Gaumer’s Spiny Pocket Mouse, Toltec Cotton Rat and of course Wrinkle-faced Bat. There was also a small chance of a Margay or a Greater Grison.

Yucatan Vesper Rat (Otonyctomys hatti)

Thank You

Thanks to Juan for working as hard as always and for suffering – without complaint – more than his share of injuries including bee stings and an uncomfortable rash apparently brought on by a brush against a poisonous plant. Thanks also to Ismael for his help around Valladolid and to Chad for his enthusiasm and company..

Trip List

Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
Northern Four-eyed Opossum (Philander vossi)
Central American Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi)
Yucatan Cottontail (Sylvilagus yucatanicus) – lifer
Central American Agouti (Dasyprocta punctata)
Mexican Hairy Porcupine (Coendou mexicanus)
Gaumer’s Spiny Pocket Mouse (Heteromys gaumeri) (Juan only)
Yucatan Deermouse (Peromyscus yucatanicus) (probable)
Yucatan Vesper Rat (Otonyctomys hatti) – lifer
Big-eared Climbing Rat (Ototylomys phyllotis)
Thomas’s Naked-backed Bat (Pteronotus fulvus)
Mesoamerican Common Mustached Bat (P.mesoamericanus)
Sowell’s Short-tailed Bat (Carollia sowelli)
Common Vampire Bat (Desmodus rotundus)
Merriam’s Long-tongued Bat (Glossophaga mutica)
Common Sword-nosed Bat (Lonchorhina aurita) – lifer
Woolly False Vampire Bat (Chrotopterus auritus)
Cozumelan Golden Bat (Mimon cozumelae)
Jamaican Fruit-eating Bat (Artibeus jamaicensis)
Great Fruit-eating Bat (A.lituratus)
Pygmy Fruit-eating Bat (Dermanura phaeotis)
Thomas’s Fruit-eating Bat (D.watsoni)
Northern Yellow-shouldered Bat (Sturnira parvidens)
Mexican Funnel-eared Bat (Natalus mexicanus)
White-nosed Coati (Nasua narica)
Kinkajou (Potos flavus)
Central American Tapir (Tapirus bairdii)

27 species including probable Yucatan Deer Mouse and the Gaumer’s Pocket Mouse than only Juan saw. Three lifers for me.