Evening star., 1933-10-23
BY RAYMOND L. DITMARS.

BY RA MOND l.. Dl1MNkS.
NEW YORK, October 23.-Vhile in
vestigating an area in Panama last year,
where cattle had been killed by snakes,
I saw signs of the work Of vampire bats
among the herds Wounds in the hides
of the animals from which descended
"ropes" of dried blood constituted the
evidence. This years quest for the
vampire resulted,
On the advice of DR.. Herbert c. Clark,
director, and DR.. Lawrence H. Dunn OF
the GorgaS Memorial Laboratory and
James Zetec, curator of the Barro
Colorado Wild-Life Sanctuary in Gatun
Lake our party began the search in the
Chilibrillo caves. near the valley ot the
Chagres River.
Concerning the vampire bat we heard
many wonder tales. 1t was exceedingly
sly; it ran Ike a rat over the cavern
walls and 6arted into crevicas. 1t at
tackled horses and even sleeping human
beings. II lived wholly or blood. 1t
did not suck the blood. as legend says,
but lapped it 9ftar making an incisiOn
with its lancelike teeth-an incision SO
severe that bleeding continued long.
Creature Is Small.
Scientists and shack GWellers united
in giving the vampire a reput alton out
of all proportion to its size. In reality
the creature has a bcdy barely three
inches long and Widespread of only
seven inches
In the camp of the engineers con-
structing the Madden Dam. in the heart
of the ChagreS Valley jungle. with the
chief engineer. Sydney Randolph, as our
host, we established quarters. The houses
of the camp are set high on posts and
are incased in screening as protection
against fever-transmitting mosquitoes
Thence, on September 3, we went forth
on our vampire hunt. In the party
were R. F. Olds of the Madden Dam
staff, Sydney Randolph. jr.: Arthur
Greenhall Of the University of Michigan,
my assistant, and two young Panamans
from DR.. Clark's laboratory.
The slope grew steep as we neared the
caves, and a dense growth of rain for
est made the going difficult. Our Pana-
man guides, pushing through barriCades
OF vines. disclosed hole in the ground,
the entrance to the main cave where
bats were said to dwell Disappoirt-
ingly it looked like little more than the
entrance to a coal chute.
We Slid in and found ourselves in a
horizontal tunnel in which We could
walk upright in single file The tunnel
grew wider and higher. The floor was
slippery with a pasty red mud. There
was a roaring sound ahead. and we
came to two big wells down which VOL
umeS of water were pouring.
Reaches Encrust Walls.
Everywhere on the limestone walls
enormous reaches crawled, fully inches
long, with waving antennae as long as
my hand. Of pale straw color, they
gliStened as if vanished. Here and
there were huge spiderlike creatures
with spread of limbs that would have
covered fair-sized plate We found
thousands of bats. some of a carnivor-
Gus variety. but it was not until We had
worked through two caves and come to
cave No. that we discovered what we
sought.
Cave No had a sinister entrance.
Well-like shaft There was not room
enough to get down with the nets and
the party was weary. Greenhall and I,
while the others rested outside, lowered
ourselves in the hole to a horizontal
tun-off, and. flashing our lights on the
wall saw several bats run like rodents
along the vertical surface, then dart
into Granny Vampires at last! One
OF them turned for an instant and
leered at us like miniature bulldog.
With lights out, we waited a half
hour. The vampires refused to reap
pear. We explored another gallery and
came to spot where a slender man
might squeeze through, but We were too
nearly worn out to continue The only
other passage sheered off at a ledge,
and beneath was channel of water,
from wall to wall, which looked as if it
were over our heads in depth. There
our days reconnoiter ended. We agreed
that a vampire bat was a prize indeed.
Quarry Disappears.
In the morning we picked up a PAN
anna lad who was lean and sinuous and
seemed to match the tortuous alleys to
be hunted. With great caution We de-
scended into the vampire grotto, keep
ing the lights out and feeling our way.
Ready with our nets at the spot where
the vampires had been seen, we flashed
on the lights. There was not a sign
Of a bat.
the vampires had been, we flashed on
the lights. There was not a sign of a
bat.
Greenhall volunteered to work into
the small horizontal shaft If the vam-
pires were inside and there were no
holes, perhaps he could net them If
they flew out past him. then I could
have a chance at them. Light and
slender, he writhed his way out of sight,