DID YOU KNOW

North American bats use echolocation to find their food in the dark at night.

WATER attracts insects; insects attract bats.

ROOSTING SITES - Planting trees and leaving dead and dying trees standing are wonderful ways to encourage bats to live in your area. Dead trees provide natural habitat for bats, other mammals and birds.

FLOWERS that release a scent at night, such a sweet rocket, evening primrose, nicotiana and soapwort attract night-flying insects that feed on nectar.

HERBS such as Chives, Borage, Mint, Marjoram and Lemon Balm also attract night-flying insects.

CLIMBING VINES such as Honeysuckle, Ivy, White Jasmine or Dogrose will provide roosting sites for solitary bats.

LIGHTS - Mercury vapour lights in your yard attract insects and bats will enjoy their easy meal.

CAUTION:

CHEMICALS - Avoid spraying your lawn, trees and shrubs with pesticides, herbicides or other toxic chemicals. Insectivorous bats consume mass quantities of insects and if these insects are sprayed with toxic substances the bats will ingest them and will become ill or die.

It is best to use a heavy glove and place the bat in a box and contact your nearest Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. The myth that all bats have rabies and that all bats carry the rabies virus persists. Actually, very few bats get the rabies virus and most of these bats are never seen by people. Never handle any ill or injured wild animal without taking protective measure. This includes playing with, or allowing children to play with, any wild animal. If you have children, teach them at an early age to respect wildlife. Wild animals should be enjoyed from a distance and not touched.

Bats live in almost every part of the world except in the very, very hot areas, or the really cold areas. There are also some really remote islands where they aren't found either. They live on all continents except Antarctica. In the tropics and rainforest lots of different species of bats can be found. Bats live in places where there is lots of food all year round.

They live in caves, under bridges, in trees, in old buildings and mines, and in man-made bat houses. Bats seek out places where it's dark during the daytime so that they can sleep. That's because bats go out hunting when the sun sets.

Bats like lots of ripe fruit, meat and little fish. They also like nectar from flowers. Most Vampire bats suck blood out of birds and one species of bat drinks blood from cattle. Bats help our ecosystem because they drop seeds from the fruit they eat and spread pollen from the plants they take nectar from.

WHAT DO BATS LOOK LIKE?

EARS: Bats have very good hearing. They use it for finding food and locating their babies. For insect and fish eaters, the big ears help with echolocation. Usually, echoes are received by funnel-shaped ears that face forward.

NOSE: The sense of smell is well developed in most bats. It is used to find and identify certain foods and to recognize roost mates and young. Fruit eating bats can find their food by the smell of the ripening fruit. Nectar seeking bats gather pollen on their snout, and by going from flower to flower help create new plants.

EYES: Bats are not blind! For example, flying fox bats have very good eyesight and they use their eyes along with their excellent sense of smell to help find food in the dark. Bats' eyes are better at seeing in the dark. Most see objects only in black and white, but color vision is known to exist in some old world fruit bats.

FEET: With their strong claws, bats are able to hang upside down in their roosts. Fishing bats also use their claws to scoop up the fish they will eat.

HANDS AND WINGS: Bats fly by using their hands and wings. While the wings are flapping, bats can go up or down by moving the membrane between the body and fifth finger. This is called "lift." Bats move forward (called "thrust") by changing the shape of the membrane between the second and fifth fingers.

FUR ON THEIR BODY: You can tell that a bat is a mammal because it has fur or hair on its body. The fur protects the bat because different colors and designs can serve as camouflage and they can hide from danger. The fur is kept clean by regular licking, somewhat like what a cat does. In the winter it helps keep the bat warm.

BAT LINKS

Bat Conservation and Management

Basically Bats Wildllife Conservation Society