Tent-making bats are species of bat that, rather than seeking out natural shelters, chew the leaves of plants in a way that creates ‘tents’. Different species modify the leaves in different ways, with some bending large leaves into an inverted ‘V’ shape, and others bending multiple leaves to create an unopened umbrella-shaped shelter. These tents are used as protection from rain and predators, and often a single group of bats will have multiple shelters they use at any given time. 

Tent-making bat species at CPBS include the Honduran white bat(Ectophylla alba), the Common tent-making bat (Uroderma Bilobatum), Thomas fruit-eating bat (Artibeus watsoni), Jamaican fruit bat (Artibeus jamaicensis), Northern little yellow-eared bat  (Vampyressa thyone)

In 2015, a concrete tourist path was installed in one of the forests neighboring CPBS. To understand the impacts of this path on tent-making bats, CPBS performed tent-making bat surveys prior to its installation, during its installation, and continues these surveys today. This study was designed to understand how the installation of the path and the increase in tourism and foot traffic in the forest affected these species. In 2017, the survey was expanded to the Archie Carr Wildlife Refuge to increase our database. 

To conduct tent-making bat surveys, surveyors walk a transect and look for both known tents and new tents. Tents will be inspected to determine the species of bat using the tent (as determined by the type of tent) and whether the tent is active. While finding individual bats in tents is the most reliable method of determining activity, other signs include guano and remnants of food beneath the tent. If guano and/or food remains are found beneath a tent, they are removed to allow the researchers to better determine activity upon the next visit. Once a tent is detected, it will be revisited during each survey until it is confirmed to be abandoned, as determined by a prolonged period of time with no signs of use.