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BAT FACTS |
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BLIND AS A BAT Many bats can see very well. Bats use their eyes, as well as their hearing and smell, to find food in the dark. Bats' eyes are designed to see better in the dark and many see only shades of black and white. Color vision does exist in some old world fruit bats. |
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BATS GET CAUGHT IN YOUR HAIR Their sense of smell, hearing, and sight are so intertwined they can find tiny insects in total darkness; a mother bat can find her own young in a large colony. Some fishing bats are so sophisticated with their echo-location that they can detect a minnow's fin as fine as a human hair if it is above the surface of the water. Many can hear the footsteps of a beetle walking over the ground. Some frog-eating bats can tell the poisonous frogs from the non-poisonous ones by their mating calls. With all of this ability, they can certainly locate you and stay out of your hair! |
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THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BATS AND RATS IS THAT BATS CAN FLY Rats and mice are rodents; bats are more closely related to the primates. Bats are the only mammal that fly. Some, such as squirrels have the ability to 'glide' long distances but they do not have the ability to fly. Some bats are called "flying foxes" but they are not rodents. There are nearly 1,000 varieties of bats and they account for almost one quarter of the mammal species. |
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| BATS CARRY RABIES Like all mammals, bats can contract rabies, however, few do. And, bats, like many other wild animals will only bite in self-defense. Bats, by nature, are not agressive. The bat's body is covered with fur or hair. The fur not only protects them but serves as a camouflage. Some bats do not migrate south in the winter and will hibernate during the coldest months, often withstanding temps in the lower 20 degree F range. Bats are clean mammals and regularly groom their fur by licking. Even the droppings in the caves support an array of bacteria and other organisms that are useful in detoxifying wastes. Many of the organisms found in bat guano have found uses in agriculture, manufacturing and research. Bat saliva is also being investigated for its potential use in medicine. |
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BATS ARE VAMPIRES Of the approximately 1,000 varieties of bats, only 3 species are "vampire bats" Observation of the vampire bats show that they will adopt orphan bats and will risk their own well-being to share a meal with a roost mate. |
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| BATS ARE JUST PLAIN WEIRD! The scientific name for bats is Chiroptera (hand-wing). Bats use their "hand-wings" to fly. To get "lift" bats flap the membrane between the body and the "fifth finger." To move forward, they change the shape of the membrane between the second and fifth finger. The Mexican Free-%qqil3ed Bats have strong claws on their feet. These claws allow them to hang upside down in their roosts. Fishing bats use their claws to "scoop up" fish. The largest bat has a wing span close to 6 foot; the smallest bat weighs less than a penny. Bats have only one baby a year and are extremely vulnerable to extinction. Nearly half of all of the species of bats in America are listed as endangered. |
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BATS ARE JUST A NUISANCE Bats can be considered one of nature's best bug controls. The small brown bat can eat up to 1,200 night flying insects in just one hour. A colony of 150 brown bats can rid a field of over 30 million rootworms during the summer. The 20 million Mexican Free-tail Bats that inhabit Bracken Cave near Austin Texas eat approximately 200 tons of insects each evening. |
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Not all bats eat insects. Some eat fish and frogs; many eat fruit and nectar. These bats are the "hummingbirds of the night." They pollinate night blooming flowers and spread their seeds. |
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Build a Bat House
http://www.batcon.org/
http://home.earthlink.net/~jdwiggins/batbuild.html |
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For more information on bats,
check some of these websites:
Bat Conservation International, Inc. http://www.batcon.org
Audubon Society eNature: http://www.enature.com
Bats, Bats, Everywhere http://members.aol.com/bats4kids
Bats http://www.cccoe.k12.ca.us/bats
Nature's Bug Patrol: http://www.calexplorer.com/backcountry/bats
Bats Are Beautiful: http://users.mildura.net.au/users/dgee
Bats In Austin: http://www.austin360.com/local/bats2/congress.htm
London Wildlife Trust: http://www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/london/bats/bats.html
Basically Bats: http://www.lads.com/BasicallyBats/index.html
Bat Conservation Trust: http://www.bats.org.uk |
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HALLOWEEN PAGE 1
HALLOWEEN PAGE 2
HALLOWEEN PAGE 3
FALL PUMPKIN RECIPES
BACK TO CHARLIE'S INDEX |
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