Bats are mammals in the order Chiroptera. When you hear the word bat, you may think of a bird. But a bat is not a bird. Bats are flying Mammals. Bats have some really weird characteristics. They can't walk very well because their legs have skin reaching over them. The bats are nocturnal, so you could find them at night. Another really weird thing about them is that they hang upside down in trees and caves. They look like mice when they do that.

 

Bats have a pretty large range of where they live. They need to live somewhere where it is dark. Bats are most known for living in caves. But you can also find them in buildings, hollow trees, abandoned mines, and any other places where it is protected and dark.

 

Bats are found worldwide except for in the desserts and the Arctic. Most of the bats eat insects. But the Vampire bats suck blood. It sucks blood from a mammal. The bats have quite a few predators. There most common predators are the hawk and the owls. They can also be food for raccoons, snakes, and weasels. But one of their weirdest predators is the trout. There is not a lot known about the bats' reproduction. They mate year-round and usually only have one offspring. But sometimes they will have twins or triplets. Their gestation period can from 40 days to 8 months. The bats have made a few adaptions.

 

Bats have had to adapt to conserving food when the weather is bad. They've also adapted to have wings on their hands. These adoptions have helped the bats life out. A family distinction for the bats is using ultrasonic sound. The bat picks up sonar signals from an insect from where it is. When it finds the insect, it goes for the kill. The bat is important to us because they eat bugs. There would be a lot of bugs if bats weren't around.

 

Bats also help by protecting gardens. Bats aren't always helpful. Sometimes they can cause rabies. Of course, many people are afraid of bats, but they really help our world. An interesting thing about bats is that is that if they are stuck in a room it will have a hard time getting out. It will probably hit a few walls before it gets out. Bats aren't birds, they're flying mammals. They have a couple of characteristics. They are nocturnal, so they fly at night. Finally bats help the world out by eating bugs.

 

Author: Joshua T.

Published: April 2006

 

Sources:

http://www.fws.gov/endangered/bats/indiana.gif http://www.tva.gov/environment/land/images/myotis.jpg http://www.fws.gov/endangered/bats/Virginia%20big-eared%20bats.jpg