Transcript BATS

BATS
BY CHYENNE FRANCISWELLINGTON
6JB
What bats eat?
There are almost 1,000 species of bats that eat all
types of food. The group of microbats mostly eat
small flying night bugs like mosquitoes, moths
and others. The megabats mostly eat ripe fruit
found in the rainforests. There are other bats
that eat strange food such as frogs, fish,
scorpions, and plant nectar.
It is amazing the different types of foods that bats
eat. The picture at the left is a nectar eating bat
feeding from a hummingbird feeder.
Where do bats live?
Bats live in every continent in the world,
except Antarctica. They prefer to live in
climates that are warm. Most bats live in
forests. They like to hang from trees in the
forest. Some species of bats like living in
dark places, such as caves and attics.
How do bats see in the dark?
Have you ever heard the expression "˜blind as a bat'? It is far from true as
almost all bats have reasonable eyesight. Have you ever been in a bat
cave, or watched a documentary about bats and wondered how they could
see in those pitch black caves?
It was once thought that the bat relied mainly on its eyesight to see in the dark.
One scientist though, by the name of Lazzaro Spallanzani discovered that a
blinded bat could fly and capture prey, and a bat with earplugs couldn't.
Later on, G.W.Pierce developed a sound detector that proved that bats do
use sound to get around in the dark.
But how do they use sound to get around? Well just as we rely on the sun for
light to see, bats rely on sound waves to know where it is going. To see in
the dark, bats produce sound pulses. The pulses made from the bat spread
out like the light from a torch. When the pulse comes in contact with an
object, then an echo bounces back to the bat. The bat uses high pitched
sounds that most creatures can't hear. This means that the bat can catch its
prey without being seen or heard. Even its predators find it hard to catch
them. A bat's call may last from 1 to 100 thousandths of a second. Using
calls of different pitches means the bat recognizes the order of which the
echoes return. This means that the bat builds a mental picture of the
surroundings in the bat's mind. The bat then listens for changes, like an
insect moving around.
Why are bats endangered?
There are several reasons why bats are
endangered. Mainly it is because of a loss of
their habitats. Rainforests are being destroyed.
Also caves and nesting areas are being blocked
and destroyed. This can also take away their
food supply.
It is important for a bat that is hybernating to not be
disturbed throughout it's Winter sleep. This can
cause them to lose energy and not make it
through the Winter
How do bats fly?
Putting bat wings on the mythical vampires makes them more efficient than
suspected.
Because a study using the last technology on high-resolution, threedimensional video recordings offered for the first time details on how these
amazing mammals fly, discovering unique abilities.
The research showed that bats use a totally different lift-generating
mechanism than birds and insects do, and their wings are much more
maneuverable, being a candidate model for tiny flying machines. "They can
generate different wing shapes and motions that other creatures can't", said
Kenneth Breuer, a professor of engineering at Brown University.
"The goal is not to build something that looks like a bat. We want to
understand bat flight and be able to incorporate some of the features of bat
flight into an engineered vehicle."
said Breuer.
How to look after a bat?
Put up a bat box or install a bat brick for
easy access to your roof space;
encourage bats’ food (night flying insects)
by planting night scented flowers such as
honeysuckle or evening primrose; tell
English Nature if you think bat are roosting
in your house; take advice from English
Nature before treating your home with
chemicals or using sprays in the garden.
Bat rabies?
What should I do if I’m bitten by a bat?
Immediately wash the wound well with soap and water
Consult a physician
Notify the local health unit
What should I do if I see a bat outside?
If a bat is wandering in daylight or crawling on the ground, it may be rabid, stay
away. If you see bats outside, leave them alone. Bats are an important part
of our natural environment.
What if I find a bat (dead or alive) in the house?
Contact your local public health unit if you find a bat in your house. If the bat is
dead, contact the local office of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
servicing Simcoe Muskoka at (705) 739-0008.
Why does the bat need to be tested?
Only testing can determine whether or not the bat is carrying rabies. When a
physician does not know this information, they may recommend rabies postexposure treatment in accordance with Ministry of Health and Long Term
Care guidelines
How do bats communicate?
Thousands of bats native to Central Texas fly overhead
each night singing songs of complex syllables -- but at
frequencies too high for humans to hear.
Texas A&M researcher Michael Smotherman is trying to
understand how Mexican Freetail bats organize syllables
into songs and how their communication is linked to the
brain. "If we can identify those areas in a bat brain
[responsible for communication], we can learn more
about how a normal [human] brain generates and
orchestrates complex communication sequences,"
Smotherman says. "And by understanding how that
works, we can then come up with testable hypotheses
about what might be going on in speech disorders."