gnarled tree roots and pushing past dangling creepers.
As you approach the cave, you smell a horrible, musky scent that grows stronger the closer you get.
The cave entrance is completely black, twice as tall as you and about three metres wide. The smell is almost overpowering now. What can it be? As you approach the entrance,
the ground beneath your feet becomes very soft, and every step you take releases more of the powerful smell. It must be the droppings of some creature . . . maybe birds . . .
Just as you are about to investigate the inside of the cave, you hear shrill squeaking sounds. Something flaps past your head, missing you by inches. More of the flying
creatures swoop past you . . . suddenly you are surrounded by thousands of bats! In a panic you throw yourself against the cave wall, covering your head with your arms. You look up as a great
black cloud of bats streams out of the cave. You notice the tiny points of their fangs glistening in the half-light: vampire bats! As they disappear into the evening sky, you shakily go in search
of shelter elsewhere, afraid they might return to their cave.
Click here .
Click here to find out more about vampire bats.
Vampire Bats
• Vampire bats live in Central and South America.
• They are only a few centimetres long, and weigh as little as 50 grammes.
• The bats drink the blood of large mammals, and occasionally they bite humans. They feed by making a small cut in the skin with their teeth, then lap up the
blood.
• Vampire bats do not usually harm the animals they feed from, but some carry the disease rabies. If you are not vaccinated against rabies and don’t
receive treatment before symptoms start, you have a very slim chance of survival.
• The saliva of vampire bats contains an ingredient that stops blood from clotting. This anticoagulant has been used in human medicine to help patients who
have had strokes.
Click here to return to your adventure.
Y ou look at the forest floor and shudder – it’s alive with crawling things you definitely don’t want to
share a bed with!
You set to work by clearing the ground between two trees, using a stick in case you disturb any snakes. Next you arrange some fallen logs into a platform, and cut lengths of
bamboo with your Swiss Army knife to lay on top of them. You tie a stout bamboo stem between the trees about chest height with liana (long vines that make good rope) – this is your roof
pole. Then you cut more bamboo and lean each stem against the roof pole, tying it with more liana. Finally, you cover it with thick, broad leaves to give you some shelter in case of a downpour.
Once inside you cover yourself in your thin waterproof jacket and close your eyes, trying not to listen to the eerie whoops and shrieks of jungle animals as darkness descends.
Dawn is breaking when a sound wakes you up. You listen intently, peering outside your shelter into the dim light. There it was again! A low, growling sound, and it seems to
be coming from the undergrowth just ahead of you . . .
If you decide to go and investigate the sound, click here .
If you decide to stick your head under your coat and hope the noise goes away, click here .
To find out more about building a shelter in the rainforest, click here .
Rainforest Shelter–Building Tips
• Don’t sleep or make shelter . . .
» near large animal trails (for obvious reasons)
» on low ground, especially swampy areas (which might harbour mosquitoes, or be prone to flooding, which is common in the rainforest)
• Clear a space on the ground to make your shelter. Make sure to do this with a stick, and not with your hands, in case there are spiders, snakes or biting
ants.
• Raise your bed off the ground to avoid creepy crawlies on the forest floor.
• Check above you for rotting branches of dead trees that could fall on you in the night, and any animals that might be lurking in the trees.
• If
As you approach the cave, you smell a horrible, musky scent that grows stronger the closer you get.
The cave entrance is completely black, twice as tall as you and about three metres wide. The smell is almost overpowering now. What can it be? As you approach the entrance,
the ground beneath your feet becomes very soft, and every step you take releases more of the powerful smell. It must be the droppings of some creature . . . maybe birds . . .
Just as you are about to investigate the inside of the cave, you hear shrill squeaking sounds. Something flaps past your head, missing you by inches. More of the flying
creatures swoop past you . . . suddenly you are surrounded by thousands of bats! In a panic you throw yourself against the cave wall, covering your head with your arms. You look up as a great
black cloud of bats streams out of the cave. You notice the tiny points of their fangs glistening in the half-light: vampire bats! As they disappear into the evening sky, you shakily go in search
of shelter elsewhere, afraid they might return to their cave.
Click here .
Click here to find out more about vampire bats.
Vampire Bats
• Vampire bats live in Central and South America.
• They are only a few centimetres long, and weigh as little as 50 grammes.
• The bats drink the blood of large mammals, and occasionally they bite humans. They feed by making a small cut in the skin with their teeth, then lap up the
blood.
• Vampire bats do not usually harm the animals they feed from, but some carry the disease rabies. If you are not vaccinated against rabies and don’t
receive treatment before symptoms start, you have a very slim chance of survival.
• The saliva of vampire bats contains an ingredient that stops blood from clotting. This anticoagulant has been used in human medicine to help patients who
have had strokes.
Click here to return to your adventure.
Y ou look at the forest floor and shudder – it’s alive with crawling things you definitely don’t want to
share a bed with!
You set to work by clearing the ground between two trees, using a stick in case you disturb any snakes. Next you arrange some fallen logs into a platform, and cut lengths of
bamboo with your Swiss Army knife to lay on top of them. You tie a stout bamboo stem between the trees about chest height with liana (long vines that make good rope) – this is your roof
pole. Then you cut more bamboo and lean each stem against the roof pole, tying it with more liana. Finally, you cover it with thick, broad leaves to give you some shelter in case of a downpour.
Once inside you cover yourself in your thin waterproof jacket and close your eyes, trying not to listen to the eerie whoops and shrieks of jungle animals as darkness descends.
Dawn is breaking when a sound wakes you up. You listen intently, peering outside your shelter into the dim light. There it was again! A low, growling sound, and it seems to
be coming from the undergrowth just ahead of you . . .
If you decide to go and investigate the sound, click here .
If you decide to stick your head under your coat and hope the noise goes away, click here .
To find out more about building a shelter in the rainforest, click here .
Rainforest Shelter–Building Tips
• Don’t sleep or make shelter . . .
» near large animal trails (for obvious reasons)
» on low ground, especially swampy areas (which might harbour mosquitoes, or be prone to flooding, which is common in the rainforest)
• Clear a space on the ground to make your shelter. Make sure to do this with a stick, and not with your hands, in case there are spiders, snakes or biting
ants.
• Raise your bed off the ground to avoid creepy crawlies on the forest floor.
• Check above you for rotting branches of dead trees that could fall on you in the night, and any animals that might be lurking in the trees.
• If
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