Ultimate Swarms Page #6

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The really amazing thing about these

bats is,

the adult females roost

in a different part of the cave.

These are just the young

and so to feed them,

they have to actually find their own

individual flock

in amongst this lot.

Just imagine you having to find

your baby

in among a million other

close-packed babies.

It's just unbelievable.

But there's something even

smarter

about how these baby

bats are organised.

They're crammed in at over 4,000

bats per square metre,

and it's this incredible density

of animals that holds the key

to their success.

I've brought a thermal imaging

camera, which will show us

which parts of the cave are hot.

So, if I pan the thermal image

camera across the roof,

you can see it's not very hot.

And then when I get

to the roof - look at that.

Red is hot and white is even hotter.

These young bats are in a roost

that is probably 20 degrees hotter

than the rest of the cave,

which means that they're able to

grow at a phenomenal rate,

making it the perfect incubator.

The whole secret to this

animal's success

is the fact that it is part

of a swarm.

On their own, they wouldn't survive.

Not only have the bats created

a hostile environment

that few others can survive in,

their real genius is that,

by filling it with millions

of individuals,

they've even managed to change

conditions in the cave

to suit the swarm.

Well, this may be the perfect

environment for rearing bats,

but it's definitely not the perfect

environment for humans.

If I stay here much longer

it could be fatal, so I'm off.

By now, the bats have started

their nightly exodus to feed.

And for me, the only way back

out of the cave is right through

the eye of this gigantic bat swarm.

There's literally tens, if not

hundreds of thousands of them.

I've never seen so many bats in one

place in my life.

This is the start of

a ten million-strong swarm

that will fly around and out of this

cave for the next three hours.

Surprisingly, these Mexican

free-tailed bats are not very agile.

They're not particularly

manoeuvrable bats.

Being tucked down in these caves

means the bats have to commute

long distances for food,

so these are the speedy

cross-country fliers

of the bat world.

Having to deal with some obstacles

is a bit more of a challenge.

Argh! Argh!

Oh! Oh!

This getting quite intense now.

Argh!

That was on my beard, that one.

I'm being absolutely

bombarded by bats.

This would be some people's

worst nightmare

but, for me, to be inside in the eye

of this swarm of bats

is just

the most thrilling experience.

These bats are the ultimate

opportunists.

By swarming together,

they're able to make their home

where most others would fail...

..proving there are huge benefits

to life in the swarm.

Swarms are a way for animals

to become significantly

more successful.

In working together,

swarms become cleverer, stronger,

and individuals are much more

likely to survive.

Understanding swarms is now also

shedding light on how humans behave.

With urban populations expected to

double in the next 40 years...

..we're all going to have to get

used to living amongst the crowd.

Unlocking the secrets of the swarm

could become critical.

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