A bit about Bats

About The Bat Family ~

The bats and flying foxes sub-classifications are members of the bat family. Bats are the only mammals whose forelimbs evolved as proper wings. Their body is squat with a short neck and an elongated head. The hands are greatly enlarged. The fingers , between which the flying membranes are located, are elongated. Bats only have a claw on their thumb which they use to climb or grip things firmly.

The Flying membranes , which have a span of around 20 to 60 cm , are spread out like an umbrella so that they can flutter when the bat flies. When they are at rest, bats hang from the edges of walls or beams by the claws of their hind legs. The whole body , including the head , hangs down in this way ; at the same time , the wings sit close around the body. Bats use their tail skin to steer when they are flying. They are skilful fliers, but are very clumsy on the ground. They come out at dusk to hunt mainly beetles and moths, this enables bats to benefit from their acutely pronounced senses, because even in complete darkness, they can detect the smallest obstacles.

The females of this animal family usually give birth to a single offspring, which they carry around with them constantly during the first months of its life. Our native bat species hibernate throughout the winter, For this they look for a cave , an attic or other sheltered places.

Bats ~

Bats are small mammals that can fly and generally live to be around 16 years old . They owe their ability to fly to their magnificent and delicate flying membrane, which spans across their whole body. At the side of the bats body the flying membrane is attached, supported by their arms. Bats are covered in mouse-grey hairs and have striking ears on their heads. Bats have poor sight and therefore have excellent hearing to make up for it. They let out a very high pitched shriek at 170 cycles a second, which we can not hear because the frequency is in the range of ultrasound. When these sound waves bounce off of their prey or any obstacle , they come back as a echo. The bats hear the echo which allows them to get their bearings. Bats have outgrowths on their nose ( some species) that are also used to detect the echo coming back to them. It is possible for bats to fly about in caves or forests in pitch black , without bumping into anything. They catch their prey in the same way. They can catch and grip their prey with the sharp claws attached to their feet , these feet aren't the best for walking on. At best bats can only hobble across the ground on them. However , bats are expert at climbing up and down trees and walls. When they sleep they hang by their back legs , with their heads facing downwards. If they want to fly , they simply drop down and open their wings. during hibernation bats drop their temperature and slow down their metabolism to the minimum. This is the only way that their energy reserves will last over winter.

Flying foxes ~

Flying foxes or fruit bats are members of the bat family. with around 200 species found throughout Australia , Africa and south Asia. Flying foxes and bats do have a similar build , because flying foxes also have flying membranes between their limbs. However , the head has a more dog like or fox like appearance, which is also where the name , flying fox , came from. On average , flying foxes are considerably larger than bats , but there are a few smaller species. The wingspan of a flying fox ranges depending on its species from around 24cm to 180 cm. During the day , flying foxes are found to be in trees of dark and dense forests and more rarely in caves. They often hang in large groups from branches and sleep, whilst shrouding their head and body in their wings. Like every member of the bat family , flying foxes become active at night. Their large eyes help them to see well at dusk. However , unlike bats , they find their food of ripe fruits , not with the help of sound waves , but actually just with their incredibly keen nose. Smaller species eat flower nectar and pollen, and even petals. Other species , which are referred to as lesser Long tongued fruit bats , have a particularly long tongue , which they can dip into the calyx of flowers to extract the nectar and pollen. As a result they actually also pollinate the flower at the same time. The largest species of flying fox is the Kalong or the greater flying fox , it grows to be 1.50 m long and lives on java and Sumatra.

Thanks for taking the time to read my article its greatly appreciated !

Sophie Carpenter.