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NARRATOR: IT'S LIKE A REAL LIFE HORROR STORY...
NATURE'S BLOOD SUCKERS, VAMPIRE BATS THEY'RE HEADED NORTH,
COMING OUR WAY.
CASEY: This is like a swarm. Wow!
NARRATOR: I LOVE TRACKING PREDATORS.
BUT THESE GUYS ARE DIFFERENT: THEY'RE THE WORLD'S ONLY MAMMAL
THAT FEEDS SOLELY ON BLOOD.
CASEY: That's freaky.
NARRATOR: IF VAMPIRES ARE COMING TO AMERICA,
I'D BETTER GET TO KNOW 'EM.
AND LEARN WHO'S ON THE MENU.
CASEY: Look at that! Oh my God! SCOTT: Oh boy!
CASEY: Whoa!
NARRATOR: THIS IS AMERICA,
CASEY: Man there's a lot of 'em in here!
NARRATOR: THE WILD.
CASEY: To be honest with you, to me this is like a rat's nest.
JIM: If you need help, just yell.
CASEY: You're already done?
NARRATOR: I'M IN HERE TEXAS, RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF AMERICA'S
BAT COUNTRY,
CASEY: If you get it on wrong, it's the last time you put it on
right?
JIM: I'll check you, ok? CASEY: Alright.
NARRATOR: BUT MAN, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT BATS, OR CAVES.
OR CAVING.
CASEY: Boy these are comfortable.
So, I've never really done anything like this.
This is completely a new adventure for me.
And it's like any new adventure: exciting and a little
nerve-wracking at the same time.
Inside-out.
You know, you don't want to make a mistake when it comes
to this stuff do ya? JIM: You don't.
NARRATOR: SO HERE WE GO, I'M ABOUT TO DROP INTO A CAVE
THAT'S NEVER BEEN FILMED BEFORE
CASEY: Is that the last guy who didn't tie in?
NARRATOR: IF I REALLY WANT TO GET TO KNOW VAMPIRE BATS
I'VE GOTTA GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS BLOOD CURDLING STORY.
NEWSCASTER: The Center for Disease Control has confirmed a
case of rabies in a migrant farm worker - the first reported
death from a vampire bat rabies virus in the United States.
Research suggests that the range of these bats might be expanding
as a result of climate change.
This would lead to increased bat exposures to both humans
and animals in the US.
CASEY: Into the bat lair I go.
JIM: Into the bat lair. Be careful, man.
CASEY: I know nothing about underground,
so this is very exciting for me and a little bit uh...
a little worrisome too.
NARRATOR: ALL MY LIFE I'VE STUDIED PREDATORS BEARS, LIONS,
AND WOLVES...
AND I'VE DEFENDED THEM THEY HAVE REALLY IMPORTANT JOBS
IN THE ENVIRONMENT AND SOMETIMES THEY JUST GET A BAD RAP.
BUT THIS IS CERTAINLY A DIFFERENT KIND OF
PREDATOR...THIS IS THE ONLY MAMMAL THAT LIVES ON 100% BLOOD
CASEY: All right, Jim.
JIM: OK. Let me know when you're clear.
CASEY: All right, I'm clear. Man, this is pretty awesome.
NARRATOR: I'LL BE HANGIN WITH JIM KENNEDY A BAT BIOLOGIST
WHO KNOWS THIS CAVE BETTER THAN ANYONE.
JIM: I TAKE A LOT OF PEOPLE CAVING AND THEY JUST FREAK OUT
BECAUSE OF CLAUSTROPHOBIA AND THE DARKNESS AND SO ON.
I HOPE CASEY'S NOT LIKE THAT.
CASEY: I'm a little bigger boy than you are Jim.
JIM: I'm older than you man. It makes us even.
CASEY: Alright.
Boy this is like puttin' on a pair of pants from high school.
JIM: Notice the odor.
It's getting much more pungent as we're getting closer
to the bat roost. CASEY: Very pungent. OK...
JIM: We should be seeing bats by now and we're not.
I'M CONFUSED. WE'RE SEEING A LOT OF BAT SIGN.
WE'RE SEEING BIG PILES OF RELATIVELY FRESH GUANO.
BUT NO BATS.
IT'S A MYSTERY I don't know what the heck is going on here
because this time of year we usually have a couple of
thousand bats in this area.
NARRATOR: NOW MOST PEOPLE WOULD BE GLAD TO NOT TO RUN INTO
NATURE'S ONLY FLYING MAMMAL.
LET'S FACE IT BATS ARE KINDA FREAKY.
BUT SURPRISE, SURPRISE... HERE IN TEXAS,
THINGS ARE A LITTLE DIFFERENT. DOWNTOWN AUSTIN IT'S A PARTY.
ESPECIALLY DURING THIS ANNUAL CELEBRATION: BAT-FEST.
CASEY: What do you think about bats?
KID: They're really cool.
GIRL: I love bats. They're part of Austin.
CASEY: You think bats are cool? KID: Yes Screams.
CASEY: Right now, I'm walking on the Congress Avenue Bridge.
This place is going crazy.
You know what they're going crazy for?
What is right below me under this bridge.
Millions of Mexican Free-tail bats.
BATFESTER: About thirty years ago,
the bridge was reconstructed and the designers didn't realize
they were creating perfect little niches, crevices,
under the bridge. And the bats started moving in.
CASEY: The city of Austin loves their bats.
But they've got something coming their way: vampire bats.
How do you feel about vampire bats?
You know there is a rumor that they could be moving north
and they might be right here in Austin.
KID: I think I would want to run away screaming.
They drink, I think, cow's blood.
GIRL: I don't know.
I don't know, I might be a little bit concerned.
NARRATOR: WHEN THE BRIDGE BATS FIRST MOVED IN,
EVERYBODY PANICKED.
ARE THEY GOING TO BITE ME? DO THEY ALL HAVE RABIES?
BUT THEN THE FOLKS LEARNED THESE BATS ARE COOL:
THEY EAT 10,000 POUNDS OF INSECTS EVERY NIGHT...
AND THEY LOOK PRETTY AWESOME WHEN THEY FLY OUT TO SUPPER...
CASEY: Right now there's thousands of people up on top of
the bridge waiting for the emergence of the bats.
And what are the bats doing?
Well, I had to find out so I came down here with this thermal
camera and that's actually the body heat of these bats sitting
here waiting for just the right time to emerge and head that way
to go eat a bunch of bugs.
NARRATOR: AND THEN SUDDENLY WITHOUT ANY WARNING, WHOOSH!
I CAN'T BELIEVE THE NUMBER OF BATS EXPLODING OUT FROM
UNDERNEATH THE BRIDGE RIGHT IN THE HEART OF THE CITY.
IT'S INCREDIBLE!
AND THE CROWD IS LOVING IT!
BUT FEAR OF PREDATORS CAN DESTROY A LOVE AFFAIR.
I'VE SEEN IT HAPPEN WITH WOLVES AND BEARS...
AND I NEED TO FIND OUT IF A VAMPIRE BAT INVASION WOULD CRASH
THIS PARTY...
CASEY: We're going to go track down these animals-try to find
out where they are.
But this is a very different way then I'm used to tracking.
So what do you think, do you think?
Do you think we should keep looking?
JIM: Well, I'd like to.
NARRATOR: VAMPIRE BATS HAVEN'T ARRIVED IN THIS CAVE YET.
BUT THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG, BECAUSE THE LOCAL BATS
THEY'RE NOT HERE EITHER...
CASEY: Why are we going down that hole?
It doesn't even look like a bat could fit down that hole.
JIM: Bats go through there. CASEY: Down into the hole we go.
JIM: I'm gonna get the packs as soon as I'm stable.
CASEY: Man, this is crazy. All right. Suck it in. Oh man.
I don't know what am I doing this for. Grunt. Oh man!
Ok, that is like, is me having to like suck in my air just
to like get in that hole.
Hang on, I'm not sure it this.
Oh man, I'm like stuck in this.
Beep. Oh man. Hey Jim. JIM: distant, Yeah.
CASEY: Uh, I got myself in a bit of a spot here.
I'm definitely wedged. Here I am.
Forty meters beneath the earth's surface.
In something that is just as wide as me.
I don't know how I got myself into this situation.
You don't even have to be claustrophobic for this
to freak you out. I mean this is like a tomb.
I'm sitting in a coffin. Any, uh, any idea.
I'm trying but my arm is kind of pinned here.
I've got to, uh.
A little bit farther and I'm there. Ok.
Whewww. That's freaky. All right.
I'm going to keep coming. Trying.
NARRATOR: SO WE MAKE IT ALL THE WAY DOWN THERE
AND THERE'S NOTHING.
JIM: There's usually a pretty good bunch of bats in this room.
I don't know what is going on with the bats here.
We know we're getting a lot of drought in this part
of the country. Things are getting warmer.
NARRATOR: SO JIM DECIDES HE'S GOING TO STICK UP ONE OF
HIS DATA LOGGERS, THESE LITTLE DEVICES THAT RECORD CONDITIONS
LIKE TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY.
CASEY: So, if the conditions are changing here in the cave,
potentially even getting warmer, could this be a future home
for vampire bats?
JIM: Well, I guess it's possible.
We really don't know.
But, we're running out of light and we're running out of time
here now.
So we need to keep on moving, man.
CASEY: OK. I'm after you man.
Woah. JIM: Ehhhh.
CASEY: That was close. JIM: You're alright.
CASEY: Look at all of those. Look at 'em.
JIM: They're just rafting off the ceiling, big gobs of 'em.
CASEY: This is like Daddy Long Leg crazy central.
I'll tell you what....
Being in here in the dark, and having all these bugs falling
from the ceiling. It is a little freaky.
If you have arachnophobia, and claustrophobia,
and you are in this cave right now,
you're running as fast as you can back to the entrance.
'Cause you have just entered a nightmare.
JIM: Stop. Look at this. Look at all of the bones.
The skulls and the skeletal material.
CASEY: So this is a baby bat skeleton?
JIM: Yep. That was a baby bat.
NARRATOR: I MEAN LITERALLY, WE'RE SITTING IN A BAT GRAVEYARD
JIM: But this is, kind of worries me,
to see this many fresh skeletons.
NARRATOR: SO I'M JUST SITTING THERE LOOKING AT THESE BAT
SKELETONS AND THEN I SEE SOMETHING WALKING ACROSS
THE FLOOR.
CASEY: Look at that. It's still alive.
JIM: It is. I wonder if it is injured.
CASEY: It doesn't look like it's doing too good.
JIM: No. It shouldn't be on the ground like this.
Especially in the middle of the day.
NARRATOR: YOU START TO THINK, WHY ARE THESE SKELETONS
ON THE FLOOR? WHY IS THIS BAT SICK?
IS THERE RABIES IN THIS CAVE? ARE THERE BAD GASSES?
AND THEN YOU START TO WONDER, IF THERE ARE THOSE THINGS PRESENT,
WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO US?
CASEY: All right, it's time to move.
All kinds of things crawling in my throat right now.
Up my nostrils. In my eyes.
Sitting in this bat graveyard we are literally having the fate
of some of these bats-getting eaten alive by insects.
There's bugs all over me. We've just got to keep going.
NARRATOR: SO WE'RE CLIMBING UP THE HILL AND JIM'S LIKE WHEW,
I HEAR SOMETHING. JIM: Listen. Do you hear that?
That really high-pitched squeaking?
CASEY: Check this out... They're everywhere.
We found the colony of bats.
This chamber is alive with bats right now.
NARRATOR: I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF A BAT HURRICANE.
LITERALLY, IT'S A VORTEX OF BATS FLYING AROUND MAKING ALL KINDS
OF AWESOME NOISE.
CASEY: I've seen a few bats in my time, but a swarm that big,
that many bats, is unbelievable.
JIM: And I'd say there's at least 10,000 bats in this
one room. All right. We're trying to catch one now.
CASEY: OK JIM: Got one.
CASEY: Got one in there yeah.
Got one hanging on right here too.
Check it out. Right here.
JIM: He got me. Laughs.... CASEY: So we got a...
JIM: Look it's another free-tail like we saw.
CASEY: Look at, we found the entire colony.
This guy is alive, happy, fighting back.
All his buddies are flying all around us.
I can feel the air coming off their wings.
It's awesome to be around this many bats at one time.
NARRATOR: AND WITH MY HEAT SENSING CAMERA,
THIS PLACE LOOKS LIKE A CLOUD OF FIREFLIES.
CASEY: I can see the heat signature of every bat out here
To be in the bat cave, to be right where they live,
with them swirling around your head,
is about the ultimate bat experience.
Wow.
NARRATOR: I'M REALLY STARTING TO GET IT.
I CAN SEE WHY TEXANS LOVE THEIR BATS...
BUT HOW WOULD THEY FEEL IF THESE BATS WERE VAMPIRES?
AND THE TRUTH IS, I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW I WOULD FEEL.
I DON'T ANYTHING ABOUT VAMPIRE BATS.
CASEY: If I've ever seen a bat that looks like Dracula,
it's this guy, so this has got to be a vampire bat.
ROB: People have confused this bat with a vampire bat.
And its scientific name is Pteropus vampyrus,
but it is a fruit eater.
NARRATOR: I'M WITH BAT EXPERT ROB MIES, AKA THE BAT DADDY,
FOR A LITTLE BAT 101.
CASEY: I feel like I'm upside down when I'm in here.
ROB: Right? So, this is a straw-colored flying fox.
CASEY: Yeah, you can see the flying fox in there.
They look definitely like a little fox.
NARRATOR: ALMOST A QUARTER OF ALL MAMMAL SPECIES ARE BATS.
THEY LIVE JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE AND EAT ALL KINDS OF THINGS:
INSECTS, NECTAR, FRUIT... AND BLOOD.
CASEY: So these little fruit eaters are awesome.
But you know I'm here to see the blood eaters.
ROB: Here we go.
CASEY: Look at these little guys.
NARRATOR: HERE ARE THESE LITTLE DUDES LIKE THIS BIG.
WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT A VAMPIRE BAT WOULD BE THIS LITTLE
THING?
CASEY: Now hanging out with the fruit bats was awesome.
But there's no way to go in here.
ROB: Oh yeah, we can go in there.
absolutely, we're going in there.
Here we go. They're really fast.
CASEY: Look, and there like, they're running around
on the ground. ROB: Yeah.
NARRATOR: THEY'RE NOT JUST FLYING AROUND,
THEY'RE LANDING AND CREEPING AND CRAWLING.
THERE ARE LITTLE CREEPY-CRAWLERTONS, EVERYWHERE.
CASEY: Look how fast they are. These guys are cool.
And look at the little teeth these guys have.
They look hungry.
NARRATOR: MOST BATS TAKE OFF FROM A HANGING POSITION.
BUT VAMPIRES...
THEY'RE LIKE LITTLE SUPER HERO BATS.
THEY CRAWL ALONG THE GROUND, THEY SNEAK UP ON THEIR PREY,
AND THEN THEY HOP UP ON THEIR VICTIM...
CASEY: Freaky little zone to be in.
Hanging out in a vampire cage with a bunch of hungry vampire
bats.
And they're all looking at me. What are you looking at?
NARRATOR: OK. I GET IT.
THESE GUYS ARE COOL-ESPECIALLY ONE ON ONE .
BUT AM I READY TO BE SWARMED BY WILD VAMPIRES IN MEXICO?
FOR MY FINAL TEST IN TEXAS, JIM TAKES ME TO THE LARGEST COLONY
OF BATS ON EARTH.
CASEY: Snake right here, right here.
NARRATOR: IT'S A COACH WHIP SNAKE, A SUPER FAST SNAKE.
AND THIS THING PUTS THE RUN ON US. BOOM!
THE RACE IS ON.
JIM: Now let's see if you can handle it....
CASEY: Yeah, that's the hard part.
JIM: Yeah. CASEY: Nice.
JIM: Good job. CASEY: All right.
JIM: Beautiful animal.
CASEY: He's really pretty. It's a good-sized one too.
NARRATOR: COACH WHIPS ARE SUPER PREDATORS.
THEY DON'T HAVE VENOM.
JUST INSANE SPEED AND A POWERFUL BITE...
JIM: So we often find these guys around cave entrances, Casey.
They'll actually eat the bats.
CASEY: I've got to be very careful letting this guy go.
Hundreds of sharp little teeth.
Infection if he bites us-so let go of his tail.
His head last. Here we go.
I'll tell you, chasing a snake that fast, with flip-flops,
not recommended.
NARRATOR: TONIGHT, I'M FOLLOWING THE COACH WHIP
TO ONE OF AMERICAS BIGGEST FEEDING FRENZIES.
JIM: BRACKEN BAT CAVE IS THE WORLD'S LARGEST BAT ROOST.
THERE ARE MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF BATS HERE.
NARRATOR: I KNOW THEY'RE IN THERE. I CAN HEAR THEM
AND THEN WHOOSH!
CASEY: If you didn't like bats, if you were afraid of bats,
this would be an absolute nightmare.
This is like, you're seen that movie,
Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds? I mean this is like a swarm.
NARRATOR: EVERY NIGHT, SOMETHING LIKE 20 MILLION FREE-TAIL BATS
LEAVE THE CAVE.
CASEY: I mean this is the most mammals,
the biggest congregation of mammals in the entire world?
Right here.
And I'm just one of the mammals. One in a million.
I always like to think of that, about myself.
This is absolutely amazing, I'm getting like...
it's not raining out, so I'm assuming
that that's something else.
JIM: Yeah, we always tell people,
if you're looking up in awe, keep your mouth closed.
CASEY: Yeah! I mean, I've got it a bit already.
Ooo! Right... right...
literally look at this, in the middle.
And they keep bumping into me and ducking over,
like that and that. I've got a bat on my back.
JIM: Here. Got it. CASEY: See you dude.
When the wind blows, they just start crashing, look at 'em.
JIM: Mostly that's this year's young.
They not real strong flyers yet.
CASEY: So that's what the predators are waiting for,
they're waiting for these bats to crash land and they're going
to go over there and whack 'em. JIM: Right.
NARRATOR: AND WHEN A BAT GET'S SNAGGED, IT'S PREY.
HERE COME THE COACHWHIPS...
CASEY: There's a big coach whip right here.
There's one over there. More coming down the hill.
Here comes another one. Right here.
JIM: He's got a bat.
CASEY: There is a coach whip right here with a bat
in it's mouth. Right here. Right next to us.
How cool is that?
Right there. Coach whip just nailed a bat.
JIM: We've got bats on the boom.
CASEY: Yeah. Bats everywhere. Look at this. Right here.
They're crashing. OK. One in the bushes right here.
JIM: Here we go.
CASEY: Yeah. There goes a race. JIM: Look at him. There he goes.
CASEY: There's a big one right here.
Coming right straight at us. It's going for it. Right here.
It just got one. Right there.
NARRATOR: WHAT'S CRAZY IS THE BATS THAT SURVIVE THE COACH
WHIPS BECOME PREDATORS TOO.
THEY'LL TRAVEL HUNDREDS OF MILES TONIGHT,
FEASTING ON 200 TONS OF BUGS BEFORE THEY RETURN.
FREE PEST CONTROL: A MAJOR BONUS FOR TEXAS.
CASEY: And this will go on for hours. Hours...
This is really...this is really cool.
NARRATOR: I THINK I'M FINALLY READY TO FACE A MOB OF VAMPIRES
TO SEE WHAT WOULD REALLY HAPPEN IF THEY SHOW UP IN TEXAS...
IT'S TIME TO GO TO THE SOURCE, OFF TO THE JUNGLES OF MEXICO.
MY ADVENTURE SOUTH OF THE BORDER STARTS HERE, IN THE MEAT MARKET.
AND I'M LOOKING FOR AN OLD FRIEND.
SCOTT: Hey, welcome to Chiapas, man.
NARRATOR: SCOTTY IS A VETERAN CAVE EXPLORER,
HE'S SPENT A TON OF TIME DOWN HERE.
AND I KNOW WITH SCOTTY THERE'S NEVER A DULL MOMENT.
SCOTT: One of the main reasons why we met at the market was
to try one of the local culinary delights.
You have an appetite?
CASEY: This looks awesome.
NARRATOR: I COULD SEE ALREADY THAT HE'S GOT SOMETHING UP
HIS SLEEVE.
CASEY: What is this?
SCOTT: This is a little surprise for you called moronga.
CASEY: Moronga. NARRATOR: AND I DIG RIGHT IN.
I LOVE YOU KNOW AUTHENTIC, INDIGENOUS FOODS.
I TAKE A BIG BITE AND HE THEN TELLS ME...
CASEY: It's not chicken.
SCOTT: Well moronga is blood sausage.
NARRATOR: CRUUUUK. AND I'M LIKE BLOOD SAUSAGE.
CASEY: So this is actually made of blood.
SCOTT: Absolutely. CASEY: So there is no meat here
SCOTT: No. They actually pour the blood into the intestine.
CASEY: Timeout. Timeout. Timeout So this is an intestine?
SCOTT: Yes sir.
CASEY: So this is an intestine filled with blood.
NARRATOR: VOILA. SAME STUFF IS IN MY MOUTH RIGHT NOW.
CASEY: I have to admit that I must have a bit of vampire in me
because this stuff is pretty good.
SCOTT: You're enjoying it, aren't you?
NARRATOR:I KNOW THIS IS SCOTTY'S IDEA OF SOME KIND OF JOKE.
GETTING ME TO EAT BLOOD LIKE SOME KIND OF VAMPIRE;
BUT I'M HERE TO HANG WITH SOME REAL VAMPIRE BATS.
AND SCOTTY KNOWS JUST THE PLACE, A HIDDEN CAVE HE CALLS
THE TORTURE CHAMBER.
VAMPIRE BATS BY THE THOUSANDS SWEEPING AT YOUR FACE.
YOU'RE WADING THROUGH BAT GUANO THAT'S COVERED WITH BLOOD
AND MAGGOTS. I HAD TO GO TO THIS PLACE.
CASEY: The torture chamber, it's an amazing thing that has been
like literally haunting me since the last time I saw you.
SCOTT: There are thousands of bats in this place.
CASEY: And it's something that most people would think was
a nightmare.
SCOTT: Like me. I thought it was a nightmare.
That's why I called it the torture chamber.
I don't mind caves. I don't get claustrophobic.
I can go in and out of caves all day long,
but if they're filled with bats and insects and, you know,
all kinds of things like that...that is not one of
my comfort zones.
CASEY: This is something that's not on the map.
SCOTT: Absolutely not. I don't know of any other...
CASEY: It's all in Scotty's head.
SCOTT: Yeah, that's the scary part.
NARRATOR: SCOTTY IS ONE OF THESE GUYS,
LIKE A LOT OF MY FRIENDS IN HIGH SCHOOL.
YOU KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A GREAT TIME WHEN YOU HANG OUT
WITH HIM, BUT THERE IS ALWAYS A CHANCE YOU'RE GOING TO END UP
IN JAIL.
SCOTT: I can honestly say I'm not totally comfortable
with thousands of bats flying all around me. Uh.
So if we find this cave, I'll be a little apprehensive
to get back in there.
NARRATOR: I NOTICE RIGHT AWAY, SCOTTY'S NOT LOOKING AT A MAP,
HE'S NOT LOOKING AT SOME GPS, THIS GUY DOESN'T KNOW WHERE
THE HECK HE'S GOING.
SCOTT: I've learned to understand that my memory's
not that great.
CASEY: I mean I look around here and it's like: jungle, tree,
plant, jungle. Not much for landmarks.
SCOTT: Well, it's one of the trickiest parts is going to be
to find this cave.
You know, I think it was, heck, almost twenty years ago that
I was in there.
NARRATOR: HE'S JUST GOING TO RECOLLECT SOMETHING THAT
HAPPENED TWENTY YEARS AGO. GREAT.
CASEY: What is that big cool tree right there?
SCOTT: That is actually a Ceiba tree right there,
that's an incredibly majestic tree right there.
That's a sacred tree to the Mayan Indians.
NARRATOR: IT IS STARTING TO UNFOLD,
THIS WHOLE TREK: IT'S LIKE GO TO THE CEIBA TREE AND TAKE FIFTEEN
PACES AND WHEN YOU SEE THE HOWLER MONKEY THEN YOU GET IN
THE RIVER AND YOU GO DOWN UNTIL YOU SEE THE CROCODILE AND WHEN
YOU SEE THE CROCODILE THEN A FEW STEPS PAST THAT,
AROUND THE CORNER, THERE MIGHT BE A MAYAN RUIN.
AND I CAN SEE, WE'RE JUST KIND OF WINGING IT.
SCOTT: Here we go, Casey, the ruins of Yaxchilan.
We're finally in the area, we're getting close.
CASEY: OK.
SCOTT: Hopefully we can find the torture chamber with a little
help from the locals here.
Casey: OK, yeah go get some advice.
I'm hoping at least one of the custodians that works at
the ruins will help refresh my memory of where this cave is.
CASEY: OK.
I'm just now coming into the very first part of Yaxchilan
and it's what they call the labyrinth and it's dark,
basically a maze in here.
Oh yeah, right here, look at this. Oh.
That is cool.
Now that is what Rob showed me, that's a Jamaican fruit bat.
Ah ha ha. That's a finger. Right
Woah. They've got some serious jaw pressure.
NARRATOR: THE JAMAICAN FRUIT BAT HAS THIS CRAZY LEAF-SHAPED NOSE
THAT STICKS OUT OF THE FRONT OF IT'S FACE.
ROB: Every time it moves like that, it's echo locating.
NARRATOR: BUT I'M LOOKING FOR A VERY DIFFERENT TYPE OF NOSE.
A VAMPIRE BAT HAS A FLAT, ALMOST PIG-LIKE NOSE.
AND IT HAS THIS CLEFT... IT'S GOT THIS LITTLE GROOVE THAT
ITS TONGUE COMES DOWN AND IT USES IT TO LAP UP BLOOD.
ROB: Around its mouth, it has heat sensing organs.
It will literally go right up to the skin feeling where
the blood is closest to the edge.
They have the biggest brains of all the bats.
So if you caught a vampire bat, it is going to be wild at first,
it's going to be hissing.
It's going to be trying to get away.
Then, it goes docile but it waits.
It waits for you just to slightly open your hand,
and then it is going to be out of there and gone.
You have to be thinking, this animal knows what is going on.
SCOTT: Get after it! OK. We're getting somewhere.
CASEY: Yeah, right, it feels like it.
Off the boat, off the river.
Now we are officially in the middle of the jungle.
Hopefully we can find this cave. These vampire bats.
Following you. SCOTT: All right.
CASEY: Are you sure you're going the right way?
SCOTT: Not totally sure but we'll get there,
just have to find our right direction.
You can spend a lot of time hacking through the jungle
and go two-three hundred feet in the wrong direction.
CASEY: Wow, this is thick. SCOTT: It is thick...
NARRATOR: I CAN'T TELL WHICH WAY IS UP, DOWN,
AND I DON'T THINK HE CAN EITHER.
SCOTT: You're down in the thicket of it all.
You can't see really anything, and you've kinda gotta go
with your sixth sense to find this somewhat of a needle
in a haystack.
NARRATOR: AND AGAIN I'M STARTING TO SEE THAT FACE OF DOUBT
ON SCOTTY.
CASEY: It sounds like we're getting closer to the river.
Are we going the right way?
SCOTT: We're going the right way.
I think I hear the stream. Yeah. You hear that?
CASEY: What does that mean?
SCOTT: Well there is a stream coming out of the entrance.
And we've got it made once we can follow that stream up into
the cave entrance.
NARRATOR: JACKPOT!
GAME ON.
SCOTT: Yeah. There's the entrance.
CASEY: Oh yeah. SCOTT: All right.
NARRATOR: I'M JUST FEEL LIKE: PHEWWWW.
SCOTT: And the quest for the vampires is on.
NARRATOR: I AM SO ELATED. I AM SO EXCITED.
BUT THEN HE STARTS PULLING OUT RESPIRATORS.
CASEY: What's this for?
SCOTT: Well there is a lot more in this cave than just vampires
that can kill you.
There's all kinds of mites, you know obviously the guano.
You're excited to go into the cave.
You're a little apprehensive of what it might bring.
and in one aspect I'm thinking...
WELL, MAYBE THE BATS ARE GONE. MAYBE IT WON'T BE SO BAD.
CASEY: This is insane.
If I didn't have this respirator on, I'd have bugs up my nose,
in my mouth.
Right now they're all over my eyes.
NARRATOR: I MEAN, IT WAS ALMOST UNBEARABLE.
SCOTT: This is absolute torture.
CASEY: Danger zone. Look at that hole.
Watch, there are some big holes in here.
SCOTT: Wow. Oh boy. Here we go.
NARRATOR: IT'S UNBELIEVABLE. THESE FORMATIONS COMING OUT.
TRICKLES OF WATER. JUST GORGEOUS.
LIKE, IT SEEMED LIKE WE WERE LIKE IN A FANTASY LAND AS
WE WALKED FURTHER INTO THE CAVE.
I MEAN WHAT'S ONE MAN'S TORTURE CHAMBER IS ANOTHER MAN'S
PARADISE.
AND THEN IN THE DISTANCE, FAR INTO THE DARKNESS,
I CAN HEAR WHAT SOUNDS LIKE THE ROAR OF A RAPID.
CASEY: Oh yeah, right here! SCOTT: Whoa!
NARRATOR: THIS IS NO ROAR OF A RAPID,
THIS IS THE ROAR OF A SWARM OF BATS. A LOT OF BATS
SCOTT: Well, this is the part I don't really like.
They're coming qhick...
NARRATOR: THIS IS NOT LIKE ANY CAVE I'VE BEEN IN.
BATS USUALLY TRY TO AVOID YOU.
IT ALMOST SEEMS LIKE THEY ARE COMING AFTER US.
CASEY: Whoa!
NARRATOR: THEY ARE GOING RIGHT BY ME.
I'M DUCKING AND DIVING. I LOOK OVER AT SCOTTY.
HE LOOKS TERRIFIED.
CASEY: How you feelin' right now, Scotty?
SCOTT: Well, this is why we call it the torture chamber.
CASEY: Look at all those bats!
I've had 'em bouncing off my head.
SCOTT: Oh boy! CASEY: This is bat...crazy.
SCOTT: Yeah. CASEY: Amazing!
SCOTT: It looks like there's a whole bunch of vamps in here.
CASEY: There are a lot of bats.
There are a lot of bats, and just looking at the sizes here
I think there's way more than just vampires in here.
Bat...oh look right here! Watchout, watchout!
It's a little insect-eating bat. There's a bat right there!
Oh...there's one on the ground right there! Hang on...
Another insectivore...another bat that eats insects.
Look at this little guy! He's called a Ghost-faced Bat.
SCOTT: That is so cool.
CASEY: Man, there's a lot of them in here!
Trying to find some vampires here. Let's keep looking.
Let's just see if we can get a closer look at these bats
and then see if we can find where the vampires are.
We've got nectar eaters, we've got fruit eaters,
we've got insectivores.
NARRATOR: ALL THESE BATS ARE INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT
TO THE JUNGLE THAT'S JUST ABOVE THE CAVE: POLLINATION,
SEED DISPERSAL, PEST CONTROL.
CASEY: And likely some vampires in here.
It's really hard to tell with all these bats flying around.
NARRATOR: I MEAN, IN ALL OF THIS BAT CHAOS,
THERE IS REALLY NO WAY I WILL BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY VAMPIRES EVEN
IF THEY ARE HERE.
CASEY: The ultimate bat cave right here.
Seriously, this might be the coolest cave I've ever been in.
NARRATOR: I MEAN, THIS WAS QUITE A BAT EXPERIENCE,
BUT THIS IS NOT WHERE MY VAMPIRE SEARCH ENDS.
IT'S TIME TO CHANGE MY STRATEGY.
I KNOW BACK HOME, WHEN I TRACK WOLVES, I GO TO THE ELK,
IF I WANT TO FIND MOUNTAIN LIONS, I GO TO THE DEER,
IF I WANT TO FIND VAMPIRE BATS, I MUST GO TO THE BLOOD.
CASEY: There is total evidence right there on the neck.
Look at that.
There's vampires on this ranch.
This area is known for its livestock and its cattle.
And there are a lot of ranches around here that are having
a ton of issues with these bats actually weakening the herd.
This is the one that's bitten.. Oh, look at that right there.
If you look right up on the neck there,
Carmen is saying you've got to look right here.
You can see the coagulated blood.
Where it was pouring out from last night.
NARRATOR: I'M LOOKING AT ALL THESE COWS AND IT'S SHOCKING.
CAUSE OUT THERE IN THE WILD, VAMPIRE BATS ARE ACTUALLY PRETTY
RARE - BUT WITH ALL THIS CATTLE, VAMPIRES SUDDENLY HAVE A HUGE
NEW FOOD-SOURCE.
I MEAN ONE DAY, COULD THIS BE A CATTLE RANCH IN TEXAS?
CASEY: and there is no other culprit other than a vampire bat
that cause wounds like that.
So definite evidence that there is vampire on this ranch.
NARRATOR: ANNA, A BAT BIOLOGIST, IS INVESTIGATING THE VAMPIRES
PREYING ON THESE COWS.
SO I'M HELPING HER SET UP THESE MIST NETS TO CAPTURE
THE CULPRITS AS THEY HEAD IN FOR THE BLOOD.
CASEY: And you're put it all the way down on the ground because
vampires will go...
NARRATOR: CLK, CLK, CLK, CRAWL ALONG.
SO WE'RE SITTING THERE IN THE DARK,
AND THEN SUDDENLY WE HEAR... PTTRRRRRRRR.
CASEY: Oh, Anna, we've got a bat. We've got a bat in the net!
NARRATOR: AND I WAS SURE WHEN WE GOT THERE,
IT WAS GONNA BE A VAMPIRE BAT.
CASEY: We got a bat, we got a bat.
So this is not a vampire.
This little guy is actually called a mustache bat.
Look at those teeth.
I mean, this little guy is a predator.
Compared to the size of its body,
it has got teeth just as big as a mountain lion or a wolf.
NARRATOR: AGAIN, HEAR THAT SOUND...
CASEY: Right there!
NARRATOR: IT'S GOTTA BE A VAMPIRE BAT THIS TIME!
CASEY: This is a Jamaican fruit eating bat.
Look at that little guy.
Yeah, he is biting very, very hard.
NARRATOR: HERE WE GO AGAIN.
I'VE CAUGHT A MUSTACHE BAT, I'VE CAUGHT A JAMAICAN FRUIT EATER.
NOT A SIGN OF A VAMPIRE.
BUT THEN I HEAR SOMETHING THAT GETS MY HEART PUMPING.
I HEAR SOMETHING CAUGHT IN THE BOTTOM OF THE NET.
I LOOK DOWN THERE ON THE GROUND AND I SEE SOMETHING CAUGHT
IN THE NET, WITH A FACE THAT I RECOGNIZE.
HISSSSSS...VAMPIRE!
CASEY: The vampires are here.
This guy was going over to the cows,
got caught in the mist net.
This is what I'm looking for, a wild vampire bat.
And here we are, face to face, finally.
All the places I've gone, this little guy right here.
This is so cool. There is another one.
There are vampires everywhere.
These vampire bats are crawling, doing that very creepy
distinctive behavior that only vampire bats do.
You know when you think about vampires,
everybody is thinking they are going to have these big extended
canines. That's what is going to do all the damage.
But the truth is, they have these incisors right in
the front, these teeth that are very very sharp and that's
what they are using to get the blood out.
And he actually using those same incisors to cut this net right
in half, like no problem.
NARRATOR: SO THE SITUATION'S PERFECT.
I'M HERE, THE VAMPIRES ARE HERE, AND THE COWS ARE HERE.
CASEY: I am going to use my thermal binoculars to see if
I can actually witness wild vampire bats feeding on blood.
I just saw a bat land on the back of one of the cows.
It is so insane how many bats are into something
that I imagined, but this is way more intense.
This is the stuff that horror movies are made of right here.
Oh my god!
There's bats on there just feeding for minutes.
And the cows are just lying there,
chewing their cud as the bats are lapping their blood.
NARRATOR: THE BAT'S TEETH ARE SO SHARP THAT ITS VICTIM BARELY
FEELS ITS BITE.
AND AN ANTICOAGULANT IN THE BAT'S SALIVA MAKES THE BLOOD
JUST STREAM FROM THE WOUND...
CASEY: I can see that white hot blood leak out, ooze out.
And that little vampire bat just sits there lapping it up.
And as the blood runs down the cow it cools into a dark black
and drips to the ground. This is ridiculous.
I'm really seeing this whole thing coming together.
As the climate warms up, these bats will have the opportunity
to, to move north, and there is plenty of cattle in the United
States so this vampire action, will be coming to America.
NARRATOR: THERE'S SOMETHING I WANT TO KNOW SOMETHING
THAT MIGHT BE A LITTLE CRAZY AM I ALSO ON THE MENU?
CASEY: There are vampire bats everywhere.
They are swarming all over the cows.
I'm going to lay down right next to them.
Maybe they are going to come over and see me.
This might be the craziest thing I've ever done.
NARRATOR: BUT THEN, RIGHT AS I'M LYING DOWN,
MY HEADLAMP HITS THIS LITTLE CALF RIGHT NEXT TO ME,
AND I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT I SEE.
CASEY: I mean that is absolutely xxxx.
Look at that. Oh my god. You have to get that.
NARRATOR: THERE'S BLOOD RUNNING OUT OF IT EVERYWHERE.
IT'S JUST CAKED ALL OVER IT.
CASEY: That is xxxx insane. That poor calf.
NARRATOR: SO NOW I'M STARTING TO SECOND GUESS MY DECISION
TO LIE DOWN...
CASEY: Maybe not the smartest thing I've ever done in my life,
but this is going to be a really cool experiment.
Give them a little something to bite in, that they would like.
NARRATOR: SO I'VE GOT MY ARMS EXPOSED, MY FEET EXPOSED,
MY FACE EXPOSED, AND I LAY DOWN.
ALL I'VE GOT TO DO IS JUST SIT REALLY STILL.
CASEY: I can hear bats flying right over my head.
They're checking me out.
I can feel the wind off their wings.
NARRATOR: AND ONCE IN A WHILE THE LITTLE BATS WOULD BE SUCKING
THE BLOOD AND JUST LOOK UP AND CATCH MY EYES.
AND I THINK HE'S THINKING, I'M FOR DESSERT.
I'M WATCHING THESE BATS JUST GORGE THEMSELVES.
CASEY: Wow! Look at them.
They're just drinking that stuff like crazy.
NARRATOR: THEY DRINK ALMOST HALF THEIR BODYWEIGHT IN BLOOD
IN A SINGLE FEEDING.
BUT BEFORE CATTLE ARRIVED, VAMPIRES DIDN'T KNOW WHEN
THEIR NEXT MEAL WAS COMING.
SO THEY'VE LEARNED HOW TO DO SOMETHING REALLY CRAZY.
WHEN A FEASTING BAT RETURNS TO THE COLONY,
IT REGURGITATES ITS MEAL FOR THE OTHER BATS TO CONSUME.
IT'S AN AMAZING AND BLOODY SURVIVAL STRATEGY.
SOMETHING YOU CAN APPRECIATE...
UNLESS YOU'RE ABOUT TO BECOME DINNER.
IT'S PRETTY HARD JUST TO LAY THERE AND WONDER...
IS A VAMPIRE BAT GOING TO BITE ME OR NOT?
CASEY: Are they still buzzing around right now?
CAMERAMAN: Yeah. Oh yeah.
CASEY: I've been laying here for quite some time tonight.
And the vampire bats have only been feeding on the cows.
In fact, once a vampire bat gets the taste of an individual's
blood, it likes to come back to that individual cow night
after night.
And it looks like the flavor of the night is that poor calf
right there.
NARRATOR: THIS IS REALLY HARD TO WATCH,
BUT THESE BATS ARE JUST DOING WHAT PREDATORS DO.
WE GAVE THE VAMPIRES A BLOOD BUFFET,
AND THEN WE TURNED UP THE PLANET'S THERMOSTAT, AND NOW,
NATURE IS JUST TAKING ADVANTAGE.
CASEY: It's kind of freaky just to lay there in sacrifice,
hoping a vampire will come over and bite you.
And wondering what it's going to feel like.
But tonight, the vampires like cow blood,
so I walk away without a bite.
NARRATOR: THIS IS A FIRST FOR ME.
LAYING MYSELF OUT AS PREY FOR THE PREDATOR THAT I'M TRACKING.
DEFINITELY FREAKY BUT MAYBE OF THE COOLEST THINGS
I'VE EVER TRIED.
BUT NOW, WHETHER THEY'RE BLOODSUCKERS OR BUG-EATERS,
I THINK BATS ARE ONE OF THE COOLEST PREDATORS ON THE PLANET.
THAT EXPERIENCE AFFECTED ME IN A LOT OF WAYS.
I THINK THAT MOMENT HAS CHANGED ME FOREVER.