Doc Ferds Recio returns to 'Born to be Wild' to study Bohol bats

BORN TO BE WILD
The Finale of “Water Snake Lake” and “Bats”
Replay: October 2, 2013 (First aired February 27, 2013)
After spending one week in Lake Taal, Doc Nielsen Donato and his team have documented two of the three water snakes that can be found here. But the third snake—the walo-walo or blue-banded sea krait—is proving to be more difficult to find. Records show that the sea krait was seen in Taal during Spanish times. But quakes and volcanic eruptions drastically transformed Taal into the one of a kind lake that it is today. In this finale, Doc Nielsen Donato uncovers what could possibly have happened to the blue-banded sea krait once documented in Taal, and why the popular lake still remains one of the richest places for new discoveries.

In Bohol, Doc Ferds Recio and a team of experts have documented 8 out of the 35 species of bats found in the province. Through mist nets, bat biologists are able to study the bats up close. Doc Ferds gets the opportunity to see and handle them up close as part of an ongoing study of bats in the area.

He encounters ferocious insect bats, often with large ears, noses and fangs, while fruit bats have a more prominent snout and rat-like appearance. And while these bats may have monstrous looks, Doc Ferds discovers their real purpose as controllers of pests and “farmers” of the wild, and learns that these bats serve human society in great ways we may never have imagined.

Catch the finale of this month’s series of Born to be Wild, this Wednesday after Saksi.