CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 2:02
Merlin’s origin story: from caterpillars and snakes to bat science
Joe and Merlin open with Merlin’s unusual name and a funny childhood story about collecting large snakes that terrified neighbors. Merlin explains his early obsession with nature and how that curiosity eventually led him toward bats.
- 2:02 – 3:51
Austin’s bat panic: debunking the “rabid bat invasion” headlines
Merlin describes moving to Austin partly because of its bats—and because the city was a global center of bat fearmongering in the 1980s. He breaks down how misinformation spread and why people misinterpret bat behavior as attacks.
- 3:51 – 6:35
Congress Avenue Bridge: turning eradication threats into a tourism and ecology win
The conversation shifts to the famous bridge colony (up to 1.5 million bats) and the public efforts to eradicate them. Merlin explains how meeting a bat up close changes perceptions and how preserving the colony benefited Austin economically and ecologically.
- 6:35 – 8:04
Why you want bats nearby: mosquito control, reduced pesticides, and biodiversity context
Merlin lays out the practical value of bats, including studies showing they consume disease-carrying mosquitoes. He explains why bat-driven pest control works best when surrounding ecosystems support bats year-round.
- 8:04 – 11:55
How to build and place a bat house (and why bats like tight crevices)
Joe learns bat houses are like birdhouses but open at the bottom, and Merlin explains how bats choose them. Merlin details design specs—especially crevice width—and ties it to predator avoidance strategies.
- 11:55 – 16:41
Winning hearts instead of battles: Merlin’s conservation strategy
Merlin explains why he left a dream research job to focus on bat conservation when bats were widely hated. He outlines a diplomacy-first approach: listening, solving people’s problems, and building allies rather than fighting enemies.
- 16:41 – 22:10
Austin bat species and extreme flight performance (radar, speeds, and tracking limits)
Merlin identifies the bridge bats as mostly Brazilian free-tailed bats, with a smaller presence of cave myotis. He describes astonishing flight speeds, radar tracking of mass emergence, and the practical challenges of tracking bats across borders at night.
- 22:10 – 24:56
Global bat diversity and Merlin’s photography: from flying foxes to tiny bumblebee bats
The discussion expands to worldwide bat variation, including huge flying foxes and one of the smallest mammals. Merlin explains how he trains bats for photography, borrowing principles from falconry, to capture rare natural behaviors.
- 24:56 – 27:42
Bats, food, and disease narratives: Ebola blame, hunting pressure, and a media misquote
Merlin explains where and why bats are eaten and emphasizes that overharvest threatens key ecological roles like reforestation seed dispersal. He also addresses misinformation, including early Wuhan market claims and a personal story of being misrepresented by a reporter.
- 27:42 – 44:06
Economics, hunting, and compromise: Samoa flying foxes and making allies of “the enemy”
Merlin argues conservation works when it aligns incentives and respects human realities, including hunting. He recounts how befriending commercial hunters in American Samoa led to game laws, a hunting moratorium, recovery of flying foxes, and even a national park.
- 44:06 – 50:27
Bats as elite pollinators and seed dispersers: Brazil-nut relatives, floral reflectors, and “spring-loaded” pollen
Using a hard seed pod sample, Merlin shows how some rainforest plants evolve to allow bat access while blocking primates and birds. He describes bat-pollinated flowers with reflectors, precise timing, and mechanisms that place pollen on specific bat body parts to avoid cross-species mixing.
- 50:27 – 1:06:25
Bat senses and social intelligence: echolocation “vision,” friendships, and learning by observation
Merlin corrects the myth that bats have poor vision and explains echolocation as an additional way of perceiving texture and space. He shares evidence of complex social bonds and striking learning ability, including small bats learning training behavior by watching others.
- 1:06:25 – 1:16:56
Vampire bats and rabies risk: separating horror lore from real-world statistics
The conversation turns to true vampire bats in Latin America, why they became problematic around cattle, and how rabies fears are commonly exaggerated. Merlin offers a risk perspective: avoid handling grounded bats, and remember bat rabies deaths are rare compared with other hazards.
- 1:16:56 – 1:39:39
Field-adventure highlight reel: curare arrows, insurgents, “jaguar” signals, cobras, and bandits
Merlin shows a curare-tipped arrowhead container and recounts intense field incidents from his bat expeditions. Stories include being chased by communist insurgents, nearly ambushed by Yanomamö, river bandits, and close encounters with cobras—underscoring his theme that relationships and judgment keep you alive.
- 1:39:39 – 1:51:37
Legacy, Bat Conservation International split, and a call to support merlintuttle.org
Merlin reflects on appearing on Letterman, founding Bat Conservation International, and later leaving amid leadership conflicts. He outlines his current mission—keeping his photo and knowledge archive accessible, building an endowment, and directing listeners to donate and follow his organization online.
