I usually head to the beach for my birthday in June. On my 50th birthday I went to Tulum and when I woke up in the morning a sea turtle had laid her eggs outside my palapa. I took it as a fantastic omen for the next 50 years. Later that summer there was a huge hurricane hit that beach directly. I hope the turtles were long gone. Then last year I went out to see my "house" in Chabihau which was destroyed the first year I lived here by a hurricane. I was the last one in the water and just as about waist deep I stepped on what I thought was a piece of glass until I looked at the wound... I was a sting ray I had stepped on. It was the worst pain I've ever felt (including kidney stones). I went to the car and almost fainted. A fisherman came by and advised me to cut open the wound and beat it with a knife.... gee thanks. a couple of hours later we made it home. Me in the back of the car moaning and writhing in pain all the way home. When I got to the internet I discovered that all you need do is soak the wound in very hot water. The pain was gone in 5 minutes. If I took it out of the water it hurt again. I kept the foot in hot water for an hour and it was over. Happy Birthday! I'm shocked that the fisherman didn't know this. Also you should shuffle your feet when you enter the water or wear water shoes.

We've had lots of close encounters with bats since moving to Merida. Almost all of the houses we have ever looked at that were uninhabited by humans were inhabited by bats. First you'll see the fruit and seeds they've dropped on the floor then you'll see them hanging from the beams or rails in most of the colonial homes. You move in and they move out. Chances are you'll see them again if you have a pool or pond in your garden. I often suggest that people paint their exterior walls in a nice batshit brown or otherwise it will be painted for you... On Yucatan Wildlife's website there are 55 species of bats listed in the Yucatan.

Shortly after moving here I rescued a baby bat after a hurricane. I nursed him with a syringe for 2 or 3 days until he flew away. Years later I discovered he was not a baby at all but a dwarf. Around sunset you'll see the fruit bats come out to eat any ripe fruit the parrots have left on your tree. About this time the entire population of bats will come out and skim your pool and bomb your walls. After dark you'll here the insect eaters out scooping up mosquitos.

I love bats and so should you. Here is the site of a bat sanctuary with a mythbuster article that will change your mind about bats.