"Men have so long been envious of the flies and birds for their mastery of the air and pictured theirs a life of Paradise restored, they have forgotten that there is still another higher creature, a being nearer to ourselves whose babes are born alive, whose brain is on a higher plane than that of any bird, whose powers perceptive are of exquisite acuteness, whose make-up is attuned to sounds and senses we labor hard to prove; that nature made many a blundering trial with the scaled and feathered folk, but all her finished summing up of flight she centred in this her favorite, the high-born, cave-born Bat, that clad in exquisite furs, mounted on silent silken wings, equipped with wonderful senses, has so long led his blameless life so near our eyes, and yet so little on our ken."
Ernest Thompson Seton, Wild Animal Ways, 1923

Worldwide, bats play an essential role in keeping populations of night-flying insects in balance. Just one bat can catch hundreds of insects in an hour. Large colonies of bats catch tons of insects nightly, including beetle and moth species that cost American farmers and foresters billions of dollars annually. They also catch mosquitoes in your back yard! The 30 million free-tailed bats from Bracken Cave in central Texas eat more than 200 tons of insects in a single midsummer evening!

Bat fossils have been found that date back approximately 50 million years. Surprisingly, the bats of that ancient period very closely resembled those we know today.

Here are a few "Bat Facts" that may surprise you!

	Bats are such unique mammals that scientists have placed them in a group of their own, the Chiroptera, which means hand-wing. On their wings, bats have a thumb and four jointed fingers. The hooked claws on their wings and toes help them hang by their feet and climb along a wall or tree trunk. To leave their roosts they let go and fall toward the ground, flapping their wings until they take flight.
	Bats use their wings like a swimmer doing the butterfly stroke. The wings are made of two layers of skin stretched over light bones.
	Like humans, bats give birth to poorly developed young and nurse them from a pair of pectoral breasts. These young, at birth, can weigh up to 30% of the mother's body weight.
	Contrary to common belief, bats do not "want to suck your blood". In fact, of the almost 1000 species worldwide, only three species consume blood, a minuscule percentage! These are the vampire bats and they do not live in Transylvania nor fly in your window to bite you on the neck. In fact, they do not even like the taste of human blood. For more information on these extremely fascinating creatures, please see our Vampire Page.
	Bats are the world's ONLY flying mammals. In fact, they can reach an air speed of more than 60 miles per hour and an altitude of 10,000 feet!
	Mammals have fur and bats are no exception. Those that roost outdoors have longer fur than those that roost in caves or in buildings.
	The nearly one thousand kinds of bats amount to approximately a quarter of all mammal species and they are found everywhere except in the most extreme desert and polar regions. They vary in size from Thailand's bumblebee bat, that weighs less than a penny, to the Indian flying fox with a wingspan of more than 5 feet - about the length of a surfboard!
	Most bats communicate and navigate with high-frequency sounds. Using sound alone, bats can "see" everything but color. In total darkness they can detect obstacles as fine as a human hair. The sophistication of their unique echolocation system surpasses current scientific understanding. On a watt-per-watt, ounce-per-ounce basis it has been estimated to be literally billions of times more efficient than any similar system developed by humans.
	Bats are not blind and many have excellent vision. They are FAR too intelligent to want to fly into your hair!
	Bats carefully groom themselves. They are among the cleanest of animals and are also exceptionally resistant to disease. Like cats, they clean themselves using their tongue and claws.
	It has been observed, documented and recorded (French & Lollar) that there are at least 23 distinct vocalizations used for communication in captive colonies of Mexican freetailed bats.
	Bats, for their size, are the slowest reproducing mammals on earth. On average mother bats rear only one young per year. Some do not give birth until they are two or more years old.
	Exceptionally long-lived, a few survive for more than 34 years.
	The seed dispersal and pollination activities of fruit and nectar eating bats are vital to the survival of rain forests. Seeds dropped by tropical bats account for up to 95% of forest re-growth on cleared land. Fruit bats bring us over 450 commercial products, including 80 medicines. Bats in the United States eat MILLIONS of TONS of insects annually.
	Night blooming plants and trees depend on nectar eating bats for pollination. An excellent example is the baobab tree of eastern Africa that is so important to the survival of other kinds of wildlife it is referred to as the "Tree of Life."
	Studies of bats have contributed to the development of navigational aids for the blind, birth control and artificial insemination techniques, vaccine production and drug testing, and a better understanding of low-temperature surgical procedures.
	Bats are depicted as heroes in some Pacific Island legends. In China, the word for bat is "fu", which is also the name of the character for happiness, and they are held in high esteem as omens of good luck and happiness. Artists still use a traditional design of five bats arranged around the tree of life to represent the five blessings. Bats play an important part in the folklore of several North American Indian tribes. Traditional Navajo Indians of the Southwest desert believe the bat is the connection between humans and gods. Although the bat itself is not a god, its powers are higher than those of people. Bats offer helpful guidance to humans.
	Frog eating bats locate frogs by their call - they can even tell who is bite sized and who is poisonous. These bats, living in tropical forests from Mexico to southern Brazil, cause problems for male frogs - how to call for a mate but not a hungry bat.

Are you aware that ONLY 1/2 OF 1% (.005) OF BATS HAVE RABIES? That does not mean it is okay to handle them. Bats are very sensitive and they will bite because they are afraid of you. However, they are truly gentle non-aggressive beneficial creatures. Bats do not "carry" rabies. Like most mammals, they do contract the disease.

"Human beings are not the center of the universe, and if they are to sustain themselves, it is vitally important for them to be awakened to how closely they are linked with the rest of nature."
Wynn Bullock