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Bats are flying mammals that navigate by sound (echolocation). They emit sounds which bounce back as echoes. An echo can tell a bat where an insect or any other object is located.
Beneficial Bats
- Bats are important predators of night-flying insects.
- Many tropical bats pollinate plants and help spread seeds.
- Bat droppings, or guano, can be used as fertilizer.
Bat Buffet
What do bats eat? Many eat insects. Some bat species in other countries eat fruit or nectar and even fish. Vampire bats, a small group that lives in Central and South America, feed on animal blood. What do Connecticut bats eat? Insects. What do all young bats eat? Like all mammals, young bats feed on mother’s milk. |
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| {Bats roosting in cave.} |
| Some bats spend the winter in underground caves. These little brown bats were photographed hibernating in Connecticut. | | |
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Bat and Moth Game
Ever play “Marco-Polo” in the swimming pool? This game is very similar but is played on land. One person is the bat and another is the moth. Both must stand in a circle made by the other players. The bat is blindfolded. The moth must say “moth” every time the bat says “bat.” The object of the game is for the bat to rely only on sound and tag the moth. | |
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Anatomy of a Bat
Bats belong to the scientific order Chiroptera, which means “hand-wing.” This illustration shows the bat’s wing, which is actually a web of skin stretched between the “fingers” of its hands. |
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| {Illustration of Bat Anatomy} |
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True or False? |
| 1. |
Bats are blind. |
| 2. |
Bats get into your hair. |
| 3. |
All bats have rabies. |
Go to Answers |
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Answers to True or False:
All are False. And, all are some of the greatest myths about bats. Most bats can see well, but rely more on sound than sight. Because a bat can find something as small as a tiny insect, it can certainly detect something as large as your hair and avoid it. Like all mammals, bats can get rabies, but only a few do. Unlike many other mammals, bats with rabies seldom become aggressive. |
Just for Kids Page
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