Recent Articles from FoBR Newsletters

Acro-Bats

It is unfortunate that bats are feared and loathed when they are actually beneficial and interesting creatures. In the United States almost all species of bats are insectivores (insect eaters). A single nursing female bat can consume 100 percent of her own body weight in insects in a single night. This comes out to approximately 4,500 insects! A colony of 1,000 bats can consume up to 4.5 million insects in one night. Imagine the benefit to farmers or gardeners, having these insect devouring machines living nearby.

A bat's insect catching behavior is quite interesting. One might think that they would grab the insects out of the air with their teeth, especially if one has ever seen the mouthful of sharp little teeth that bats possess. This does happen occasionally, but more often the hapless insect is scooped up in a wing or in the tail and then transferred to the mouth. This is why feeding bats seem to fly in such jerky, erratic movements.

Bats come in many different sizes. The smallest weigh in at just over 2 grams (0.07 ounces), about the weight of a dime, while the largest can be just over three pounds. The largest bats are fruit eaters from Asia, Australia, Africa, and some Pacific islands. They have beautiful reddish-brown coats reminiscent of the European red fox; they are even called "flying foxes." Some of these have a six-foot wingspan -- much longer than the 22 inches of the largest American bat, the greater mastiff. Bats in the United States range in weight from 3 grams (0.11 ounces) to 70 grams (2.5 ounces).

Bats are the only flying mammal; others, like the flying squirrel, glide rather than actually fly. They belong to the order Chiroptera, meaning "hand-wing" in Latin. The bones that spread the skin of the wing have the same structure as your arm, wrist, and hand, only with greatly elongated fingers. The thumb is the small projection on the forewing and is used to crawl over the surface of a roosting spot.

These amazing animals have existed for around 50 million years. Now, because of human impact, bat populations are seriously declining. Of the 54 species of bats in the United States, six are listed as endangered and several more are considered threatened. Bats have many natural predators, but none of these affect bat numbers like habitat destruction, disturbance of hibernation and nursery roosts, and pesticide use. You can help protect these remarkable animals by avoiding pesticide use and providing habitat by saving open space and building bat houses.

To find out more, including how you can become a volunteer bat house research assistant, contact Bat Conservation International at 1-800-538-BATS or www.batcon.org. FoBR conducts bat house workshops and can provide plans for simple bat houses. The next workshop is on August 17th.