Seeing an opportunity,
the bats pounced.
After all,
why waste energy hawking for insects in the sky,
when there is such a feast on the forest floor?
New Zealand's night-time creepy-crawlies are at the mercy of these bats.
Some try to put up a fight
but they're no match for this army of predators.
These bats have special sheaths that protect their wings,
all the better to burrow through the leaves.
So even worms aren't safe.
The very first bat evolved from a mouse-like mammal many millions of years ago.
Here on New Zealand,
it seems evolution has gone into reverse.
And if New Zealand's bats have turned to mice,
what on earth has happened to the birds?
In these forests lives a bird that
is about as un-bird-like as it is possible for a bird to be.
It's nocturnal,
though it sometimes wakes up before sunset.
It has whiskers so it can feel its way in the dark.