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BAT NATURAL HISTORY BATS
Commonly found in CT: Scientific
Names:
Colonies of up to 200 bats can live indoors, particularly during the winter. The best way to prevent this is to bat-proof your home. Find openings where bats are getting in (they can squeeze in a hole less than an inch wide). If they are already inside, drape polypropylene bird netting over exit holes. Secure the netting several inches above exit only. This causes the bats to have to drop down to exit at night when they go out to feed. The bats will not be able to get back in the same way. Wait several nights before sealing up the hole to make sure they are gone. BAT EXCLUSIONS SHOULD NOT BE DONE IN JUNE OR JULY, as flightless young may be present and will die inside your home.
Description: Its fingers are tremendously elongated and joined together and to the legs and sides of the body by a thin leathery membrane. The thumb is free and is equipped with a claw to aid in landing and in crawling over the ground. Breeding: Mating occurs in late summer and early fall, but the young are not born until early the following summer. The female stores the male sperm until early spring when they are released to fertilize the eggs. Usually a single naked and blind baby is born. During the first 2 weeks of life, the mother carries her baby around while looking for food. Habits & Haunts: Most people fear these animals due to superstition and misinformation. This is a fascinating animal that plays an important role in our lives. This is the only mammal to have developed the ability to fly! The bat is more agile and maneuvers better in flight than most birds. They are nocturnal and depend more on hearing than eyesight. They use echo-location to find their food. This means that they utter a series of high-pitched clicks that cannot be heard with the human ear. These clicks bounce off nearby objects and the echoes are interpreted to determine the exact location of their food. Some species hibernate while others migrate several hundred miles to warmer climates.
Food: Bats are the only major predators of night-flying insects including mosquitoes. One bat may eat up to 3,000 insects in a night. Here's one reason to appreciate, rather than fear, bats! If you're worried about West Nile Virus....consider a bat roost-box! Other species are the sole pollinators of bananas! No bats, no bananas, folks! For more comprehensive information on all kinds of bats, visit Bat Conservation International, Inc. Found An Orphan? Click here Some information about Rabies in Wildlife |
