Bats buzz like hornets to scare off owl predators

Amazing stuff!

"Some bats can imitate the sound of buzzing hornets to scare off owls, researchers say. The discovery is the first documented case of a mammal mimicking an insect to deter predators.

Many animals copy other creatures in a bid to make themselves seem less palatable to predators. Most of these imitations are visual. ...
[A researcher] first noticed that the distress call of the greater mouse-eared bat sounded like the buzzing of bees or hornets while he was catching the bats for a different research project. ...
but .. when the bat’s call was stripped down to include only frequencies that owls — one of the animal’s main predators — are able to hear. ...
the researchers played bat and insect noises to owls living in captivity. They found that the birds tended to approach the speakers when played recordings of social bat calls, as if looking for prey. But a recording of hornets buzzing usually caused owls to distance themselves from the speakers. ..."

From the abstract:

"... Traditionally, mimicry is mainly evident and has been mainly studied in the visual domain. Here, we report experiments that document the first case of interspecific acoustic mimicry in a mammal and demonstrate that the distress calls the greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis) broadcasts when handled imitate sounds of stinging bees or wasps to discourage the bat’s avian predators."

Bats buzz like hornets to scare off owl predators Alarming impression is first known case of a mammal copying an insect to deter hostile species.

Bats mimic hymenopteran insect sounds to deter predators