The huge fore claws are a strong feature. The hind claws rarely show in the track. The broad spread of the tracks in the lower trail corresponds with the low, thick form of the animal.
When they first come out after sunset they usually fly away in a great stream, nearly all in the same direction, as though migrating. This course will probably be found leading to water, where they scoop up a drink from the surface before beginning their wonderfully erratic zigzags through the air in pursuit of insects.
From the colder northern parts of their range they migrate southward to milder climatic conditions or descend to lower altitudes. In Mexico, where they live up to above 8,000 feet altitude, they move down from one to two thousand feet. Their young, one at a birth, are born from April to May.
It has been claimed that the Mexican bat brings bedbugs to infest houses. This is untrue of this or any other bat. These animals have certain small parasites, some of which, resembling small bedbugs, have probably given rise to the belief mentioned. These parasites live only on the bats.
THE TRACK OF A BIG BULL MOOSE WALKING ON HARD GROUND
The great size, the pointed shape, and the long stride usually distinguish it from the track of a domestic cow. Ordinarily, the clouts do not show. The dung pellets, however, are very important diagnostics. They are cylindrical, about ⅝ inch through and 1¼ inches long. Probabilities of time and place must always be considered. Oftentimes the hind foot is set far ahead of the front-foot track. The excessive spreading of the hoofs is a strong character of moose tracks.
TRACK OF A COW MOOSE WALKING IN THREE OR FOUR INCHES OF MUD
In this the clouts show clearly. The excessive pointedness of the cow’s track is not a fixed character. The hoofs of a moose in swamp country are larger and more pointed than those in a rocky country, because less worn. The cow track, in this case, was sketched in a land of swamps, so that it is longer and sharper than the average.