The world is filled with a lot of creatures. Some of them tend to peak the interests of people. One such kind of creature is what we are going to look into today. Those are the Bats. Bats are the only flying mammals known to mankind. These friendly minions are known for their ability to fly through the thickest of darkness.
Most mammals that have a presence in the air glide through the winds. But these are the ones that use their wings to fly. This is one of the most interesting facts about Bats. Bats have a scientific name called the Chiroptera. These flying mammals use their forelimbs are their wings to fly through the dense darkness.
Bats own a lot of other interesting facts which might never fail to surprise you. Thus, let us look at some of the amazing facts about bats in this article without any further delay!
1) Facts about Bats
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1.1) Bats are Predators and Prey as well
These flying mammals are known for their ability to fly through the dark and hunt down the tiniest of prey in the forests as well as their well-known habitats such as the caves. Bats usually hunt down small creatures like small rats and worms. But the whole bat species are only seen to consume tons and tons of flying insects. It is said that these creatures can live just by hunting down these tiny flying insects.
Insects such as Moths, Mayflies, Midges, Beetles, and Mosquitoes as well. Bats are the primary predators of these flying insects. But this also has another side. Bats face a certain situation where they turn into food for other creatures. Prime predators like Eagles and Hawks hunt down the bat species for food. Even owls are considered to be a threat to bats, especially in the nighttime. It is because owls are larger and more powerful.
The most important thing here is that Owls are the alpha hunters in the dark. This is how bats face a two-sided coin situation.
1.2) Bats have a Unique Wing Structure
The species of Bats own this specific ability to fly through the air making them the only mammal in the world which is known to fly instead of gliding through surfaces. Bats are known to have a specific wing structure that differentiates their movement from that of the birds.
Birds use their whole energy to flap their wings. They consume a lot of energy for flight. But Bats, on the other hand, are blessed with an effective wing structure that enables them to fly through the air without consuming much energy. They require only less movement to fly above. Moreover, the Bat species are described to fly with their wings in such a smooth manner that they are described to glide or swim on thin air.
1.3) One of the Famous Abilities of Bats- The Echolocation
Bats are the most brilliant animals when it comes to navigating their path and hunting down their prey by using a particular method that is only restricted to some creatures. This method which is used by bats and other prominent creatures like whales and dolphins is known as Echolocation. It is the process of finding a thing or a path by emitting a sound.
The objective’s location is usually found by hearing the closest echoes. This is one of the most powerful abilities exclusively available to certain particulars. This ability is infused with current-age human technology to find things that are in the unknown terrain. This process is named SONAR by mankind. This technique is used by humans to navigate directions on land as well as underwater.
In the Defense field of a nation, the SONAR technology is used to guide underwater submarines to find their directions and avoid or dodge possible threats. The Bat species is one of the most significant creatures which is found using this ability the most. But it is said that this unique ability was developed by the Bat species only after the development of its flight ability.
1.4) Bats are Good Groomers
There is a list of animals that are actively involved in grooming themselves now and then. Bats belong to the list of this Animal Groomers as well. Bats are sensitive to their physical appearance and they take care of it frequently. These creatures usually lick their whole body and at times, even bathe through the help of stream waters and other possible water bodies which has no threat to them.
Bats keep their skin and appearance lice-free. The skin and the hair layer of bats are usually found clean without any dust and dirt. It has been a natural habit for the Bat species for a long period. Cats are the perfect example for the word called Animal Groomers due to their behavior of licking themselves and keeping themselves clean frequently. The behavior of Bats is also found similar to that of cats as well.
1.5) Bats can Control their Blood-flow to an Extent
All the bats present in the world own a Psuedo Venus heart. This variety of hearts is described especially due to its ability to store blood along its edges. This action of the heart can automatically give a whole boost to the body which has this particular heart. This means that bats are also one of the luckiest creatures who have minimal control over their energy levels. They can influence their blood flow in such a way that they get tired only after a long period of work.
In addition to this, Bats are said to have muscular areas around the tip of their wings. These muscular athletic blood operate, just like the other usual organs in the body. A tiny twist here is that this athletic area can pump blood backward. The blood which is flown to the tip of the Bat’s wing can be pumped back quickly to the heart. This directly means that the recovery speed of energy levels can also be controlled by the being.
The Bat will recover quicker after a long session of flying and hunting. These abilities are considered to be superhuman by most people out there. Bats are one of the luckiest creatures to have these unique abilities. Vampire bats are known to gave this unique ability.
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1.6) The Smallest and Slowest Reproducing Mammal
Bats vary from the size of very tiny to an average of 1-3 inches, including the wingspan. The Bat is considered to be the slowest reproducing creature for a mammal of that particular size. Larger mammals always take up a lot of time to give out their newborns.
For instance, we have elephants and hippos. These animals are generally huge. These are considered to be some of the significant mammals which roam around the earth. Now, these mammals will always take up a lot of time to reproduce. The average pregnancy period of an elephant remains somewhere around 22-24 months, which is two years or somewhere near that. We have bats on the other hand. They are considered to be one of the smallest mammals. But their pregnancy period doesn’t correspond to their size.
An average bat remains pregnant for up to 2-3 months. In addition to this, they have the slowest reproduction period. All bats tend to reproduce only after a total of 365 days. Mostly, a lot of bats found in the United States of America are said to reproduce after their long and cozy hibernation which ends usually during the spring or the summer months.
The baby bats will need a total of four months to grow into complete capable adults which must hunt and resist for survival. They will start to reproduce 2-3 months after that. This gives a high rise in the population of Bats during the Spring and Summer seasons in the United States of America.
1.7) Mega-Bats have Bigger Brains than Micro-Bats
Through the ordinary course of time, the Bat creatures have seen a lot of evolution. The bat colony of certain bats tends to evolve wholly due to their close connection regularly. The actions of one bat get influenced by the other ones and soon, the whole colony starts to change its actions. This has laid down the path to evolution.
Now, scientific researchers have found that bigger bats are the ones that are usually smarter. They are the ones who tend to survive longer than the smaller ones. It is because the Mega-Bats are found to possess a developed brain to that of an average Micro-Bats brain. Since Mega-Bats have larger well-developed brains, it will give them many key advantages like having a high sense of smell, vision, and thought process.
In addition to these, the Mega-Bats only require the ability of Echolocation in dire situations. They do not need echolocation for their survival purposes frequently. They can just rely upon their senses for basic survival and living.
1.8) The Golden Crowned Flying Foxes- World’s Largest Bat Species
The world’s largest bat is nearly up to 5 to 6 inches long. This bat species is named the Golden Crowned Flying Fox and is said to weigh nearly up to three pounds. This is one of the friendliest bat species one could ever witness. Well, it does not mean that you can contact it when you see one.
It just tells us that, this bat species is not of the aggressive type. It has not been found to go on a vengeful hunt for prey by most of the researchers who keep track of every movement of this bat species. In addition to this, the Flying fox is a creature that has grown a fondness for raw fruits. Thus, most of the time this Bat variety is always found near the densest parts of jungles which contain a lot of fruit trees. It is one of the famous fruit-eating bats which is currently in existence.
1.9) The Bracken Bat Cave of Texas- World’s Largest Bat Colony
A bat colony is a natural habitat for a whole community of bats. When a huge number of bats occupy a place to live and survive, it naturally becomes their habitat and is soon, named a bat colony. A bat colony has a very huge number of bats in it. Sometimes, it might be hazardous for humans to even enter a bat colony without proper precautions.
Now, these bats which tend to live in communities share lives. They bring in food and eat for themselves. They hibernate as a crowd and even hunt as one. The main thing here is that every bat belonging to the colony functions in an orderly manner which has the ultimate purpose of providing for the colony.
Coming back to the point, the world’s largest Bat colony is currently located in the Bracken Cave of Texas in the United States of America. A total of 20 Million and more of the Free-tailed Bat variety is said to live in this particular cave system which is known to extend for very long distances.
1.10) Bat Droppings are Highly Effective Fertilizers
The Droppings of the Bats are considered to be precious by most of the farmers who have farmlands near bat caves. These bat droppings are generally rich in a lot of important and healthy components of land such as Nitrogen, Phosphate, and even Potassium. These droppings are used as effective fertilizers, just like other excreted materials by some of the significant cattle animals such as cows and horses. Bat droppings are found in large where there is an active Bat colony.
The Bat Dropping is given a name known as the Guano. The Guano is even processed and added with other minerals to give it an enhanced functioning in the soil. The Droppings have been supporting a lot of plant growth for a very long time.
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As said before, Bats are magnificent creatures that are often misjudged by the way it looks. It needs the love and attention of people it deserves for being our friendly pest eradicator and flying fascination. These are some of the most interesting facts which you can find about Bats on the internet. Check out the related content, Amazing facts about Dolphins, brought to you by Icy tales.
Last Updated on by ritukhare