BATTY HALLOWEEN WEEK INTERVIEW AT BERNAT METGE WITH BATWORLD, TEXAS

 

BATTY   BAT   HALLOWEEN WEEK

OUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY KATE AT BATWORLD, TEXAS.





1ST AND 2ND YEARS

INSTITUT BERNAT METGE

2^nd D: Why do bats migrate and then they return to their homes?

Bats migrate at about the same time each year in search of food. When it’s too cold for insects or fruit in one area, they migrate to a warmer area where insects and fruit can still be found. When it warms up in their primary range, they return.

 2^nd C Do male bats migrate too?

Yes, both male and female bats migrate

 2^nd D Do female bats fly far away only when they are pregnant?

Female bats don’t usually migrate while they are pregnant. Most migratory bats mate in the spring, after they have returned to their primary range.

 2nd C What happens if a female bat loses her pup? Does she help other mothers raise theirs?

Some species of bats will foster orphaned pups if they lose their own. We have observed female bats grieving for a lost baby for several days, too.

2^nd D Are bats disturbed by noise? I’m thinking about those under the bridge in Austin: Congress Avenue Bridge.

The bats that live under the Congress Avenue Bridge and in similar places have become acclimated to the noise of the traffic on the roadway above them. Bats are, in general, pretty adaptable to changes in noise in their surroundings.

 How fast can a bat fly?

The Mexican freetail bat has been clocked at more than 100mph and can sustain a speed of 60mph or more for 15-20 minutes.

  2^nd D Which is the greatest bat in the world and what is it called?

The largest bat in the world is the Malaysian Flying Fox, also called the Giant or Golden-Crowned Flying Fox. Australian Black Flying Foxes are similar in size, too. These bats are about 18” from nose to rump, weigh 2-3 pounds, and have a wingspan of over 5 feet.

When are bats born, in which season? Why?

Baby bats are born in spring and early summer, when food is plentiful for the mother and temperatures are warm. Babies need to be kept warm until they have fur and can regulate their own body temperatures, and moms require a lot of food to produce the milk their babies need.

 2^nd C Can you keep a bat at home? Would it be happy?

Here in the U.S. and in many other places, it is illegal to keep a bat as a pet. Bats are very social and require the company of their own kind to be happy. At Bat World, we provide habitats that allow bats to choose who they want to roost with, or to pick a place to roost alone if that’s what they want. They spend very little time with humans.

  2^nd C How can bats sleep comfortably if they are upside down?

Bats are built to roost upside down, as it allows them to drop into flight more easily. Most bats have difficulty lifting off from the ground to fly, because they have very thin legs and not much muscle there. They alternate which foot they use to grasp the surface they are roosting from, so their legs don’t get tired.

2^nd C and 2nd D When bats spot an insect, do they first use their sight?

Bats use echolocation to find tiny insects like mosquitoes at night, when it’s dark out. Some bats, like the Pallid bat (found in the southwestern US), hunt larger insects like crickets, scorpions, and millipedes on the ground, and they do hunt by sight as well as by echolocation.

  2^nd C How can bats see at night?

Bats are nocturnal, like cats are. They have special cells in their eyes that enable them to see in the dark better than humans can. They still use echolocation, though, because hunting tiny insects in the dark, hundreds of feet up in the sky, while flying 60mph, is really impossible.

 2^nd D Bats are mammals but, can they be sleepy like birds and keep flying like them?

No, bats use sustained, powered flight. That means they are constantly flapping their wings while flying, rather than flying the way birds do. Birds will flap their wings a few times, and then glide for a distance before using their wings again. If a bat gets tired while flying, it will stop and land to rest a while.

  2^nd C How come bats don’t have long teeth if they eat fruit?

Fruit bats do have long teeth! They both have long teeth in the front, for grabbing and holding onto their food.

  2^nd C Why are bats nocturnal animals?

Bats are nocturnal for a couple of reasons. One, insect-eating bats can find more food at night, because more bugs are out then. Two, fewer predators are out at night, so they have a better chance to survive.

  2^nd C Why are bats different colours?

 for the same reason people are….and for camouflage. It’s surprising how hard it is to see a red bat roosting among green leaves! Bats that live in caves tend to be dark brown or gray, which helps them hide.

  2^nd C How high can a bat fly?                                                                               

Some bats can fly as high as 10,000 feet up – that’s nearly 2 miles.

  2^nd C Do bats help each other if one of them is hurt?

Vampire bats will regurgitate a portion of their meal to feed a colony mate who was too young, too old, or too sick or injured to go out to feed. We also often find bats comforting a bat that is sick or injured, by grooming it or just keeping it company.

2nd C and 2nd D Is it difficult to raise bats in your sanctuary? Which species are more difficult to feed?

It’s not so much that it’s difficult as it is time-consuming. Insectivorous bats are generally the most difficult to feed, because we have to teach them to eat crawling insects from a dish when instinct tells them to eat flying insects ‘on the wing’. Some of them just never catch on and have to be hand fed for as long as they are with us. We make every effort to teach them to self-feed, because it gives them a greater sense of control over their own lives.

2nd C and 2nd D Can you tell us about a special bat you took care of?

There have been so many! One that comes to mind was Nellie, an evening bat who came in to me with a wrist injury in early spring. As she recovered and received good nutrition, it became apparent that she was pregnant, and when it was time, she gave birth to the first of her twins in my hand. The fact that she trusted me that much was really amazing! (note, there’s a video of this on Bat World’s YouTube channel, called “Nellie Gives Birth”) Nellie Gives Birth Bat World

 Thank you Kate!


 




Kate Rugroden is the VP of Operations and Treasurer of Batworld Arlington, Texas. She is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator specializing in bats, raccoons and opossums. She collaborates with several institutions and she is a passionate teacher and an author:  The Essential Bat, 2012.