Bat Zone

Autumn Mascot

BIO 155

3/25/12

The Bat Zone

Bats are very interesting creatures. Bats are native to every continent except the Arctic. Their common habitats are caves, trees, and buildings. There are 1,200 kinds if bats known. Bats are the only animals that eat upside down. Bats are much faster than birds, the bend their fingers when they want to turn. The life expectancy of a bat is 20 years. Bats have one maybe two babies, because it is so hard on their bodies to have babies. Bat babies weigh about 25% of the mothers’ weight at birth.

Malayan bats are the largest bat in the world, with a wingspan up to six feet wide weighing about two pounds. The smallest bat is the microbat, with a wingspan of about five inches, and stands about one and a half inches. Golden bats are the most endangered bats. There are about 50 bats left on an island, and about 2,000 at zoos to keep their numbers up. The Stella bats are Egyptian bats. In Northern Michigan we have little bats called brown bats. The brown bats can eat up to 1,000 mosquitos in an hour. Mexican free-tailed bats can fly 10,000 feet in the air.

Vampire bats live in Mexico and central South America. Vampire bats are the only bats that use their legs to run and jump. They are also the only bats that drink blood and feed on blood. Vampire Bats feed entirely on blood which is freshly drawn from small wounds inflicted on prey such as fowl, cattle, horses, swine

They don’t suck the blood, they drink it as it trickles out. They eat about a tablespoon of blood a day.

All bats can see, however bats have developed the use of echolocation to find food when navigating and hunting for food at night. Bats make high-frequency sounds, and the echoes of these sounds bounce back which enables a bat to make a mental map. Using this mental map they are able to avoid the smallest of obstacles whilst locating their prey. Bats can usually find their predators...