Bat Power Point

Bats are among the world’s most fascinating, beneficial and likable animals. Yet, they are often feared and misunderstood. Myths surrounding bats include them getting caught in your hair, having rabies, and sucking blood. Due to this, bats are often killed, and their numbers are declining making sights like this rare. Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis)

Bats are beneficial for controlling pests, for pollination of flowers and for spreading seeds. This Jamaican fruit-eating bat is about to take a ripe almons. In the wild many, if not most, economically important tropical fruits rely on bats for propagation. Jamaican fruit-eating bat (Artibeus jamaicensis)

There are approximetely 1000 different bat species in the world. 22 in Canada and 9 in Saskatchewan. Not all are scary, black and gross, but, Dwarg epauleted fruit bat (Micropteropus pusillus)

Bats like this are disappearing rapidly due to human fear and ignorance. The greater horseshoe bat for example, are now extinct in many areas where they were once common. Greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrummequinum)

Bats were once thought to be closely related to mice, especially when looking at bats such as this letter mouse-tailed bat. In reality, even bats such as these are more closely related to people than to mice. Lesser mouse-tailed bat (Rhinopoma hardwickei)

Bats are mammals which belong to the order Chiroptera (ki rop’ te ra) – meaning hand wing. A bat’s wing is just an expanded hand, with long fingers connected by a thin, sturdy membrane.
Yellow-winged bat (Lavia frons)

There are many different types, sizes, and shapes of bats. From large bats like this Lyle’s flying fox, which have a wingspan of nearly two metres, to… Lyle’s flying fox (Pteropus lylei)

the world’s smallest mammal like this bumblebee bat of Thailand which weighs lass than a penny… Bumblebee bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyei)

From crested bats or punk bats to… Chapin’s free-tailed bat (Tadarida chapini)

Mexican long-tongued bats with narrow heads especially adapted for reaching the nectar within a flower. The brush-like patch of papillae is a sexual display found only on males. Mexican long-tonged bat (Chowronycteris mexicana)

11. From tiny eyes and funnel ears to…Mexican funnel-eared bat(Natalus stramineus)

12. enormous ears that can be rolled up during sleep to prevent heat and water loss. From…

Spotted bat (Euderma maculatum)

13. rabbit ears to…Heart-nosed bat (Cardioderma cor)

14. floppy ears, funny noses and…Giant leaf-nosed bat (Hipposideros commersoni)

15. eyes that seem to be in their ears. What would his glasses look like? But bats are not dirty or scary, and some…

Perter’s Ghost-faced bat (Mormoo0ps megalophylla)

16. are real characters like this Wahlberg’s epauleted (ep’au let eed) fruit bat, with full cheek pouches. Bats do not become entangled in people’s hair, and frightening tales of bats as carriers of rabies and other dread diseases are grossly exaggerated. Most bats are harmless and highly beneficial. Wahlberg’s epauleted fruit bat (Epomophorus wahlbergi)

17. Bats are nocturnal animals they fly and feed in the period from twilight at dusk,

through the night to the twilight just prior to sunrise. Emergence

18. Using special flaps and nose leaves, bats can use sound alone to detect obstacles as fine as a human hair and can see everything but colour on the darkest night. No bats are blind. Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis)

The majority of bats hunt flying prey through the use of echolocation. Bats emit pulses of sound through their mouth and nowtrils which bounce off insects and other obstacles and are reflected back to the bat’s sensitive ears. Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus)

Bats are excellent hunters and make good neighbours. This bat has just caught a katydid but when there are mosquitoes around, a single bat can catch up to 600 in just one hour. All bats that live in the United States and Canada are insectivores. D’Orgigny’s Round Eared Bat (Tonatia svlvicola)

Carnivorous bats like this Frog eating bat use frog mating calls to identify and locate their prey. And the… Frog-eating bat (Trachops cirrhosus)

fisherman bat uses its feet and claws to snatch minnows. Fisherman bat (Noctilio leporinus)

Only 3 of the nearly 1000 bat species eat blood, and these live in latin America. This bat licks, but does not suck blood. It will consume about 5 tsps of blood per day. They have an anticoagulant in their salive which is being studied for use by doctors in operations. Common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus)

Bats are very important in the pollination of many plants. Without large numbers of long nosed bats, these Saguaro (sa wara) cactus could decline endangering other plants ans animals that depend on their survival. Sonoran desert landscape

The saguaro cactus has flowers which open at night and has a special shape and odour to attract bat pollinators. This bat’s face is already covered with pollen from another saguaro flower. Cross pollination is achieved… Long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae)

As the bat’s head enters the flower. In exchange for the pollination service bats are rewarded with large quantities of nectar.

Long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae)

This cross-section shows that in order to reach the nectar the bat must first get covered in pollen as it enters the flower. This pollen is then carried on the bat from flower to flower. The pollen must touch the stamen in order for a seed to develop.

Long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae)

Bats that eat fruit pick the ones that ripen prematurely or are missed by pickers. By removing these overripe fruits, bats actually help farmers by reducing breeding opportunities for pests such as fruit flies. Bats do not like unripe fruits any more than we do. Egyptian rousette bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus)

Most bats prefer to carry fruit away from the tree before eating, apparently to avoid predators. Gambian epauleted fruit bat (Epomophorus gambianus)

Predators of bats include snakes, owls and cats. Snakes will often wait at cave entrances. Black rat snake hunting southeastern bats (Myotis austroriparius).

Bats are slaughtered by the tens of thousands by market hunters who then prepare them for market to be sold for restaurant delicacies and potions. Dawn bats (Eonycteris spelaea)

The largest bat colonies in America live in caves. This cave in central Texas is the summer home of 20 million Mexican Free-tailed bats. Adult female bats gather in caves to rear their young in a nursery colony. Bats mate in the fall before hibernation, with male bats mating with as many femeales as possible. Fertilization occurs in the spring with a gestation period of 1 ½ - 2 months.

Interior of Bracken Cave

A mother gives birth to one pup each year and quickly learns to recognize it’s voice and scent. The baby’s survival depends on the mother finding and nursing it several times a day. Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis)

Amazingly, she remembers her own pup’s exact location and voice even though it is packed tightly among millions of others. The babies grow rapidly and learn to fly and navigate in about 4-5 weeks. Some bats can live for more than 30 years. Maternity colony (Tadarida brasiliensis)

For their size, bats are the slowest reproducing mammals and are among the most vulnerable to extinction of any animals on earth. Gambian epauleted fruit bat (Epomophorus gambianus).

Most bats produce only one pup per year, but the Red Bat found in Regina usually has twins or triplets and sometimes even quadruplets. Like all bats, the babies are nourished by their mother’s milk. This is one species of bat found in Regina. Red bat (Laiurus borealis)

Bats live in many different types of homes, and each have their own unique needs for living space. Silver-haired bats roost in bark crevices and small tree hollows, where their colouration provides camouflage from enemies. Silver-haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans)

Some bats move into old wooden barns and houses when surrounding trees are cut, but many of these old structures are being torn down and rebuilt with metal or other bat-proof material. Little Brown bat (Myotis lucifugus)

Bats may even move into occupied building, such as these big brown bats that live in building nearly everywhere including the legislative building in Regina. Big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus)

Hoary bat

Caves are of course another favourite home for bats, and protection of caves is vital to bat conservation in many places. Caves may also serve as homes for those bats which hibernate to survive severe winters. These bats hibernate until spring living on stored fat reserves. Typically bats hibernate packed into dense clusters, but…

Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis)

Some modern bridge designs do offer hope for bats if builders can be persuaded to use them. The Congress Avenue bridge in Austin, Texas shelters an estimate 750,000 Mexican free-tailed bats that consume more than 9,000 Kg of insects nightly. An Elephant weighs about 4,000 Kg. Congress Avenue Bridge, Austin, Texas

These bats live in long vertical crevices, 2.5 cm wide by 39 cm deep.

Congress Avenue Bridge, Austin, Texas

All hibernating bats are extremely vulnerable to human disturbances. Thousands die each winter when visits by amateur cave explorers force them to awaken and waste stored fat needed to keep them alive until spring. Educated cave explorers avoid bat hibernation caves in the winter and nursery caves in the summer.

Private corporations are beginning to play an important role in bat conservation efforts. This entry to an abandoned mine was re-opened and gated to provide new bat habitat. Mine roost

Sanctuaries such as these have already helped re-establish hundreds of thousands of bats. Gray bat sanctuary

These are endangered gray bats. More than half of their entire species population winters in just this one cave in the southeastern United States. Hibernating gray bats (Myotis grisescens)

Loss of even a single bat colony can lead to extinction of numerous other organisms that rely on nutrients brought into caves through bat droppings known as guano. Guano provides the primary nutrient source for entire ecosystems of unique cave life. Guano pile

Bat guano is so rich in nutrients that a single tablespoon full can contain hundreds of species of bacteria of great potential value. May be use to clean up industrial waste and pollution, and used to produce detergents and antibiotics. Tablespoon of guano

Simply left alone, bats are harmless. If it’s necessary to remove a colony from a building, they can be safely evicted by use of netting hung in front of their exits. Leaving the bottom open will allow the bats to escape, yet prohibits their return. Bat exiting a roost site

Several evenings after the netting is hung, when the bats are gone at twilight to begin feeding, their holes can be plugged. Plugging roost entry

Bats are not to be feared. Like most mammals, bats can contract rabies. When infected they die very quickly, and do not become aggressive like dogs and cats do. But, only experts should attempt to handle a bat, because any bat that you can catch is more likely than others to be sick. It is best to leave them alone and they will do the same.

When we put myths aside, bats can be appreciated as fascinating and highly beneficial animals. Leschenault’s rousette (Rousettus leschenaulti)