Debby Hill
Keeper of the Wild
There are 15 species of bats in South Carolina, 45 species in the U.S. and Canada, and currently over 1100 species of bats in the world. Even so, new species are still emerging.
Hollywood has done a great job striking fear in the hearts of many people when it comes to bats. The truth is we should be very grateful bats share our environment. Separating bat myths from facts is the best way to start.
· Bats are NOT "flying mice". Bats are not rodents. In fact, bats are a group all their own named ‘Chiroptera’, which means hand-wing. Bats are actually closer to primates and lemur. They have fur and are warm blooded. They are the only mammals that can fly and account for more than 25 percent of all the mammals on earth.
· Bats are NOT blind. There is a saying, "as blind as a bat". In reality some bats have very good vision and can see almost as well as humans and better in the dark. They even see in color. Some small microbat species have eyes that are small and poorly developed with poor visual acuity, yet their vision is especially designed for navigation over long distances. In any case, no bats are blind.
· Bats do NOT want to suck your blood. While people believe that all bats are vampires by nature, in truth, of the over 1100 species of bats in the entire world, only 3 species feed on blood. These are found in Latin America, not in the U.S., and never in the South Carolina Lowcountry. Those that do are not known for using humans as a blood source. They seek cattle or chickens and will create a small cut and lap (not suck) less than two teaspoons a day. Also, scientists have discovered that vampire bat saliva is better at keeping blood from clotting than any known medication and may one day help prevent heart attacks and strokes. Other bat species eat insects, frogs, fish, fruit and nectar. The blood sucking bats of the movies are NOT real.
· Bats do NOT spread rabies. Actually, very few bats have rabies. Rabies is a virus that is transmitted to animals and people through the bites of infected animals. In fact, less than one-half of one percent of all bats has rabies. It is more likely for a person to be bitten by an unvaccinated dog or cat.
· Bats do NOT want to get in your hair. Bats have no interest in human hair. This belief is more likely the result of a bat diving for an insect meal which happened to be flying close to a human’s head. Bats have excellent navigation in the dark. They use "echolocation" to find food since they hunt at night and often cannot see their prey. They emit ultrasonic clicking and squeaking sounds specifically to produce echoes. By comparing the outgoing pulse with the returning echoes the bat’s brain and auditory nervous system can produce detailed images of its surroundings. The bat can then detect, locate and even classify its prey, all in complete darkness. Scientists hope that learning more about echolocation will help people who are blind.
Bats can be gray, brown, or reddish brown. In South Carolina they average from ¼ to 1 ounce in weight, 3 ½ to 5 inches in length, and a wing span from about 10 to 16 inches. They have a high quality sense of smell and hearing. Bats hunt at night to avoid competition with birds and are known to travel long distances in search of food. Bats rarely fly in the rain since the rain interferes with their echolocation and they are unable to find food.
A baby bat is called a "pup". Generally one offspring is born at a time, probably due to the mother’s need to fly to feed while pregnant. If food is abundant and shelter is available a bat may give birth up to three times in a season. The mother will nurse the pup on her milk until it is nearly an adult since the baby cannot forage on its own until its wings are fully developed. Females of some species have the ability to delay fertilization. They may mate in the fall, but hold off on fertilization until favorable conditions are present. In some other species, fertilization will take place, but the fetus will not develop until more favorable conditions exist such as a time when fruit or insects are more plentiful.
A bat may live more than 20 years, but the bat population growth is limited by the slow birth rate.
Bats migrate to warmer areas in the winter or they will hibernate. Bats not only live in caves but also in trees, behind the bark or in hollows, in jungles, buildings, barns, and under bridges. Although fruit bats are good at flying, they can’t land gracefully, and instead must crash into bushes or trees to come to a stop, or try to latch onto a branch as they pass by.
Seventy percent of the 1100 species of bats worldwide eat insects. Most of the rest eat fruit. A single brown bat, a species found in South Carolina, can catch more than 1200 insects per hour. Many species can eat thousands of mosquito and crop destroying insects in an evening. Imagine the impact a whole colony of bats can have on its environment. Bats are also important for pollinating flowers that bloom at night and dispersing fruit seeds such as bananas, avocados, dates, figs, peaches, mangoes, cloves, cashews and agave. Over 150 types of plants depend on bats in order to reproduce. In addition, bat droppings, called guano, is the finest fertilizer known to man. Nature has given bats a vital ecological role in keeping our planet healthy for all life. Realizing that some insects carry diseases and other insects like Cucumber beetle and moths can cause severe crop damage, bats are actually doing humans a big favor.
Ultimately, bats don’t deserve the bad reputation uninformed humans endlessly disseminate about them, and they definitely deserve a lot more respect for their amazing abilities and contributions toward a healthier and more pleasant existence on earth for all life.
Debby Hill
Wildlife Education Director
Keeper of the Wild Wildlife Rescue
www.KeeperoftheWild.org
