Born To Be Wild: Doc Ferds' bat encounter and Doc Nielsen's water snake search ends

CEBU, Philippines - In the finale of Born To Be Wild's bat and water snake series, Doc Ferds Recio and a team of experts have documented 8 out of the 35 species of bats found in Bohol .  Through mist nets, bat biologists are able to study the bats up close.  Doc Ferds gets the opportunity to see them up close as part of an ongoing study of bats in the area.

Doc Ferds encounters ferocious insect bats, often with large ears, noses and fangs, while fruit bats have a more prominent snout and rat-like appearance.  And while these bats may have monstrous looks, Doc Ferds discovers their real purpose as controllers of pests and "farmers" of the wild, and learns that these bats serve human society in great ways we may never have imagined.

Doc Nielsen Donato's search for the walo-walo or blue-banded sea krait meanwhile is proving to be more difficult.  Records show that the sea krait was seen in Taal during Spanish times.  But quakes and volcanic eruptions drastically transformed Taal into the one of a kind lake that it is today.  In this series finale, Doc Nielsen uncovers what could possibly have happened to the blue-banded sea krait once documented in Taal, and why the popular lake still remains one of the richest places for new discoveries.

Catch the finale of this month's series on bats and water snakes in Born to be Wild tonight after Saksi on GMA-7. (FREEMAN)