Book I. Gold Fever

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1. What are bats?

Bats are mammals in the order Chiroptera, meaning “hand wing” (Greek), so named for their four long fingers and a thumb connected by a thin layer of skin (membrane) for flight. As mammals, bats have fur and bare live young called pups. Mothers nurse pups for about 6-10 weeks until they can fly and forage for their own food. There are two main types of bats, microbats and megabats. Microbats are smaller bats with wingspans up to 12-inches, such as Pinta, the pallid bat, that are commonly found in the U. S. These bats primarily eat insects and rely on echolocation or sound waves to find their prey. Megabats, such as flying foxes have wingspans up to 6-feet and are found in the old world, including Australia and Africa. These bats eat nectar, pollen, and fruit and rely on vision and smell to find their food.

2. How do bats find their way in the dark?

Bats (micro) use a special sonar system called echolocation to navigate and find their insect prey in the dark. To echolocate, bats make high frequency calls out of their mouths and noses and then listen for echos that bounce off objects in front of them. By listening to the reflected sounds, they are able for form pictures in their minds, just like we form pictures visually.  In this way, bats are able to comfortably move around at night, capturing insects in total darkness. We generally cannot hear bats echolocating as the frequency of their calls is too high for us. Sometimes one can hear bats chatter before they leave a roost at night, or when they’re disturbed and wake up during the daytime. 

3. Are bats blind?

All bats can see, just as well as people, so “blind as a bat” is a myth. Bats sometimes rely on sight to catch prey that can ‘hear’ them. Many insects can detect bat echolocations and will take evasive action by spinning to the ground to avoid predation. To catch these insects, bats quit echolocation and rely on sight so the insects can’t detect and avoid them. Bats will also rely on sight to find their way out of roosts; that is, in dark crevices, they follow the light to find their way outside.

4. How many species of bats are there in the US? In the world?

There are over 1,400 species of bats worldwide, almost 20% of all mammal species, making them the most abundant mammal on earth. The U.S. and Canada are home to 47 species of bats. Bats are found in every habitat, except in extreme desert and polar regions. They are incredibly diverse, ranging in size from an inch long (bumble bee bats), to flying foxes, that have wingspans up to 6-feet. Color variations are equally impressive with Pinta, the pallid bat in my story having beige-colored fur with gold flecks. Other bats are red, silver, brown, and gray. The lovely spotted bat, a rare bat found in the western U. S. states, has black and white spots.

5. Describe what most bats eat.

Most bats, including most all found in the U. S., are insectivores, meaning they eat insects. Some, like Pinta, the pallid bat, also feed on centipedes and scorpions and are immune to the venomous sting of a deadly centroides scorpion that can kill a grown man. Some bats in the desert southwest also feed on nectar and pollen and even cactus fruit, especially the saguaro cacti. Bats are essential for pollinating plants and dispersing seeds in the wild. Vampire bats are the only species of microbat that feeds on blood rather than insects, but not to worry, they do not live in the U. S., and prefer cattle over people. As a positive, vampire bats have a powerful anticoagulant called draculin that researchers are looking at to develop a similar chemical to prevent blood clots in people. Some tropical bat species eat fish; others eat frogs, with the ability to detect and avoid poisonous frogs by their song.

6. How do bats fly?

Bats have long, narrow fingers that are connected by a thin, elastic skin and powerful muscles for flight. They are incredibly agile in on the wing, flipping upside down or flying sideways to sneak through small spaces and to catch prey. Mexican free-tailed bats, commonly found in the U. S., often fly at 40 mph and up to 80 mph when in a dive. They also will forage a mile or more high where they feed on migratory flights of corn ear worm moths, a significant pest of cotton and corn. Bats will forage up to 30-miles or more from their roost insect prey, sometimes catching bugs with their wings and scooping them into their mouth, literally eating on the wing. Their wings are living tissue and sensitive to touch, just like our skin. If a bat wing tears, it can still fly as long as the injury isn’t too great. Bat wings will usually heal from wounds, just like our skin heals if we accidentally cut our finger.

7. What other mammals fly, besides bats?

Bats are the only true flying mammal that use wings to power flight. A few other mammals, like flying squirrels and flying lemurs, live in tree canopies and can glide from one tree to the next through the air. These animals have flaps of skin that extend beyond their arms and legs allowing them to soar like a parachute from one treetop to the next. 

8. Where do bats live?

Bats can be found everywhere, including deserts, forests, caves, and even cities. Bats make their homes, called roosts, in a variety of places including tree holes, caves, and crevices in both natural and manmade structures. Mothers and their young generally roost together while males often roost individually or in small bachelor groups. Bat houses (boxes) are sometimes installed on poles or structures such as shops or barns to attract colonies of bats for pest control on farms. Bat houses can be purchased online or they can be built following plans on the Bat Conservation International website at batcon.org.

9. What is the world’s smallest and largest bat?

Bats are incredibly diverse, ranging in size from the bumblebee bat in southeast Asia that weighs less than a penny, making it the world’s smallest mammal, to flying foxes, that weigh several pounds and have wingspans up to 6-feet.

10. When is the best time to see bats?

Bats are most active during the summertime when it’s warm and there are plenty of bugs to eat. During the wintertime, bats either hibernate or fly south, so not seen. The best time to see bats is during the evening after sunset, or in the early morning before the sun rises.