Bats are one of the most fascinating and interesting creatures of nature. They fly, but they are not birds. Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera; their forearms, modified into wings, distinguish them from other mammals. The digits of the arms are connected through a thin membrane which acts as a wing. Most bats are nocturnal and search for food during the night. The following are some interesting facts about bats:
- Bats are the only mammals capable of true flight. Some other mammals can glide through the air for shorter distances, such as some species of squirrels, but they don’t have the ability of powered flight. This gives bats a special position amongst mammals.
- There are more than 1240 species of bats. They are divided into two suborders based on their size and other unique characteristics: Megachiroptera (megabats) and Microchiroptera (microbats). Megabats have small ears and poor hearing, but they have excellent vision and usually feed on fruits. Microbats, on the other hand, have big, elongated ears and mostly use echolocation for finding prey.
- Contrary to popular belief, bats are not blind. Some fruit bats have excellent vision and can even see ultraviolet light. These bats don’t use echolocation at all.
- Bats use echolocation to find food in the darkness. Echolocation is a physiological process for locating distant or invisible objects (such as prey) by means of sound waves reflected back to the emitter (i.e. the bat) by objects. Echolocation is mostly used by microbats.
- Again, contrary to popular belief, not all bats drink blood. In fact, out of more than 1200 species, only 3 species of bats are known to feed solely on blood. These are the common vampire bat, hairy legged vampire bat, and white winged vampire bat.
- Megabats are also known as fruit bats because most of them eat fruit. Thus, they play an important role in the pollination of many plant species. Plants pollinated by bats often have pale nocturnal flowers (in contrast, bees are mostly attracted to bright, daytime flowers). These flowers are usually large and bell shaped. Some bats have evolved specifically to reach and feed on the nectar present in these flowers.
- Dogs are not the only animal to have pups; the young of bats are also called pups. Most bats give birth to one pup a year. Bat pups are born young and weak, but they grow fast. Depending on the species of the bats, pups can be fully independent in 4 weeks to 4 months of age.
- Some species of bats hibernate during the winter. They usually live at higher altitudes and, in winter, insects prey become scare. During this dormant period, they can often be found clustered on cave walls or ceilings, curled up like furry little balls.
- Bat droppings are called guano and they make excellent fertilizer. They are rich in nutrients for plants, fast acting, and they don’t have much odor. They make plants healthy and green.
