Monday, October 14, 2013
Bats...Bats...BATS
Guess what we are learning about this week....wait for it.......wait for it.....BATS! That is right, we are learning all about those dark, creepy, night time creatures. Well at least that is what everyone thinks about them...our goal this week is to figure out just what bats are up to these days! So here we go again...we have the questions and we are hoping that YOU have the answers! So...
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ReplyDeleteMy favorite subject for Halloween - BATS! Bats are not creepy, dirty creatures; they are actually very clean and VERY helpful to man! They eat many of the insects, such as mosquitos, that can give us diseases.
ReplyDeleteThey do have bones; they have a backbone and are classified as a mammal. Unlike birds, their bones are not hollow (and yet they can still fly!) but they are very flexible.
Bats have babies just like any other mammal; it's just trickier when you're hanging upside down. There is a video here that shows a baby bat being born (not too gross)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NtsQfRCKSI
A bat's prey varies from plants (fruit mostly) to insects and some even eat BLOOD!
I think bats are misunderstood because they are not "pretty" animals and dart about at night, which can be frightening! Some of my favorite misunderstandings are:
Bats are blind (NOT true - they see about as good as humans)
All bats use echolocation to "see" (NOT true - for instance, fruit bats do NOT use echolocation)
Bats are closely related to birds (NOT true- they are more closely related to monkeys!)
Bats are ignorant (NOT true - they can even be trained to come when you call them and learn quickly)
Bats all live in caves (NOT true - they live many different places such as overhangs or under bridges)
Bats have rabies - (Mostly NOT true - you actually can get rabies from a dog or armadillo easier that from a bat. Only about 1 in 200 bats carries rabies and it's very unlikely they will bite, but don't pick one up if you see it on the ground. That's not a good sign. Bats like to be roosting, hanging upside down or flying. A bat that's found on the ground is probably sick.)
Bats make up about 1/4 of the mammal species yet some of them are endangered and need protection.
Bottom line - if you're tired of mosquitoes and gnats at your house - put up a bat house and hope some move in - they will make your outdoor experience much safer!
For more information, go to my favorite bat website:
http://batconservation.webs.com/batfacts.htm
Hi! This is Dawson's mom, Darrah. Dawson wanted you to know about a particular species of bat that lives in Thailand, called the Kitti's Hog-Nosed Bat or Bumblebee Bat. It is the smallest of the bat species, and some say the smallest mammal! It is only about an inch long, and weighs only a quarter of an ounce! That's tiny!! It isn't black like most bats, it's a reddish grey color. It eats mostly insects and spiders. Because it is so small, it has lots of predators, including snakes and even squirrels. Here is a website with some pictures of this tiny bat.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thewildlifediaries.com/?p=1216
Hi, this is Jocelyn's Mom, Mellena. I love that your learning about bats! They are one of my favorite animals. I volunteer at HAWK Center and we had gotten a call in for a bat early in the year. It was a dehydrated female Mexican Freetail bat! She just needed some fluids, a little food, and some rest, then we let her go a couple of nights later. She was really sweet. She ate meal worms and wax worms in the clinic but in the wild she would eat moths and many other insects. Bats are really misunderstood today I think because people just don't know much about them, and I just love that Ms Race is teaching you how wonderful they really are. Bats are super special! They do have bones and they are the only mammal that can fly! How cool is that?! Because they are mammals they have babies just like a cat or dog and they even nurse the babies until they are old enough to eat their food of choice. Bats are super cool to learn about! Just remember if you come across a bat that looks like it may be sick do not touch it! Find an adult and have them contact their local rehabber for advice. Even though bats are super neat always remember safety first and don't touch. I hope you enjoy learning about the bats as much as I do! Here is the picture of the Mexican Freetail bat from HAWK Center's FB page: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151575727849099&set=pb.35312909098.-2207520000.1381886864.&type=3&theater
ReplyDeleteA few cool things we have learned so far:
ReplyDelete*Bats eat 1/2 of their weight each night!
*Bats hibernate during the winter!
*In Texas, a group of Bats can usually eat 500,000 lbs of insects A NIGHT!
*A group of baby bats is called a nursery. If you go into a cave full of baby bats GET OUT! You need to quietly leave only because you can scare their mommas away. If mom leaves then they won't get fed!
*A baby bat is called a pup.
*A lot of bats are dying out because people are tearing down their homes, such as old barns, attics, and other buildings.
*The hog-nosed, nicknamed Bumblebee Bat, is one of the smallest mammals in the world!
*When a female has a baby she is hanging upside down and it comes from her belly! Don't worry she doesn't drop it!
*One of the largest bats is called Asian Fox Bat.
*People carry more disease than a bat...so no need to worry about them!
*A Grey Bat can carry more than 300 insects in its mouth at ONCE!
so did you no that bats can carry more than 300 insects in its mouth at ONCE!so i said that we can carry more disease than bats My name is charli summers
ReplyDeleteI built and installed a bat house and this year it had 7 bats living in it!
ReplyDelete