The
information presented here is intended to help you prepare for
your visit with the Organization for Bat Conservation's live
bats!
If you are interested in sponsoring
one of our bats feel free
to contact us, we may be able to bring your class bat to your
program, a real treat for the kids!
For additional books and fun bat stuff check out our batty
gift store. All proceeds go back into bat conservation work.
Plant
a bat garden
Build
a bat house
Bat
walk activity
Play bat
and moth
How
do you feel about bats?
Glossary
of bat terms
Print
a handout of bat facts (page
1 and page
2)
Fun
bat facts
Links
to bat coloring pages
Enhance
your senses: night eyes activity
Enhance
your senses: night
ears
Enhance
your senses: night
noses
How
big would your wingspan be?
Visit
a bat exhibit
Write
a batty letter
Bat
Walk Activity
Bats are one of the most interesting and unique mammals in the
world. There are over 1,000 different species of bats worldwide
and make up about a quarter of all mammal species. They are important
pollinators of such plants as mango, banana, and cashews. Fruit-eating
bats are very important in the rain forest. They spread over half
of the initial seeds in a cleared rain forest. Finally, in our
own backyards, bats are the primary predators of night-flying insects.
Bat
Walks During the Day
Most bats hide from predators during the day while they sleep,
and thus can be very difficult to locate. Point out places that
bats might live and discuss some of these aspects:
Some bats are solitary (live alone) and use camouflage to keep
them safe. This disguise usually takes the form of blending in
with the color of the tree, for example the hoary bat often roosts
in evergreen trees and uses its brown, white, and yellow coloration
to hang unnoticed. Other solitary bats, like the red bat, hang
in maple trees from one foot, curl up in a ball, and pull their
furry tail membrane over their head to look like a leaf. Bats
that live in colonies (a group of bats) may live in a barn, house,
dead
or dying tree, rock crevice, cave, cavern, or in expansion joints
beneath a bridge.
When looking around the city for bats, point out church bell
towers, shutters on houses, attic vents, on the underside of
bridges, and
cracks in buildings. Bats will usually be up high, in a warm,
dry, dark location where they await dusk. When looking for bats
in a
natural setting, point out any dead or dying trees (bats often
live in dead trees, especially those with loose and peeling bark
and any cavities), live trees (especially evergreen, maple, and
sycamore trees), rock crevices, caves, shrubs, and holes in cacti.
During fall and winter, some bats have been known to sleep under
fallen leaves on the ground for warmth.
Bat Walks at Dusk
If you are going to take a walk at night, make sure you are familiar
with the area and inform the participants of any potential hazards.
Consider limiting the size of the group to ensure a pleasant
experience. If there is a good possibility of seeing bats up
close, ensure
that everyone knows not to touch any bat. Bats are timid creatures,
but will bite in self-defense. Prior to the night walk, recommend
that the attendees wear suitably warm and weatherproof clothing
and shoes, and make
sure to bring a flashlight (red filter if available) and bug
spray. Arrive just prior to sunset and be
on the lookout
for bats flying about 15 minutes after the sun goes down. The
best time to see bats is on a warm summer night when there a
lots of
flying insects. In the Canada and northern United States, bats
hibernate (sleep through the winter) when the temperatures go
below freezing. Bats can be seen year round in southern parts
of the
United States and into Mexico.
Dusk is the best time to look for bats because it’s not yet
too dark to see, but dark enough for bats to leave their roosts.
In the city, look for bats hunting around lights on streets, playgrounds,
football or baseball stadiums, or parking lots. In natural settings,
look for bats near open water such as lakes, rivers, and ponds.
Stand so the water is between you and the sunset. The lake will
reflect the sky and light up the bats. Other areas to see bats
flying around are in fields, wetlands, prairies, and at the edge
of woods and forests. If you are lucky enough to live near an existing
colony, you can go at dusk with a blanket and video camera to watch
the emergence. Some of the best places to find large numbers of
bats are caves, caverns, mines, bridges, barns, and bat houses.
Often, simply find swarms of insects and bats will soon be there.
If you own or can borrow a bat detector, it is by far the best
way to tell if bats are flying in the area. Bat detectors pick
up bat echolocation calls as the bats fly around foraging for
insects. The microphone inside the bat detector is capable of
detecting
high frequency sounds that a human can’t hear. The detector
then converts the calls into a sound that we do hear.
Spotting a Bat
Record the time, place, and location of the discovery. What is
the bat doing, how is it flying, are other bats flying in the
area, how does it catch its food? Keep a journal of your bat
observations.
You may also want to try to take a picture, video, or audio recording.
Make sure not to shine a flashlight directly at the bat as it
is flying. It may change its foraging behavior or be easy prey
for
predators. Be on the lookout for bat predators. Hawks, owls,
and snakes are a few animals that prey on bats. Birds of prey
can often
been seen in the sky or on a branch waiting to swoop down and
grab a bat. Other known predators include raccoons, opossums,
and cats.
Make sure it is a bat and not a bird seen flying. Some birds,
like swallows and martins, have a similar silhouette as bats
and will
be out at twilight hunting for insects. One thing to know is
that birds usually glide between flapping, with wings close to
their
bodies. Bats rarely glide and if they do, they usually have their
wings extended during flight. Also, birds usually fly in a smooth,
straight direction. Bats generally have erratic, swooping flight.
In addition, see if the animal is going into a roost or coming
out of a roost at dusk. Birds will be heading in at sunset and
bats will be emerging. Finally, most bats in the North America
are much smaller than their nocturnal bird counterparts such
as nighthawks and owls.
Bat Walks with a Naturalist
Check with your local nature center, museum, zoo, or other educational
institution to see if a bat expert would be willing to lead a
bat walk. People who study bats often carry bat detectors that
translate
bat echolocation (sonar) into sounds humans can hear.
For More Information
You may find it helpful to pick up a copy of the “Stokes
Beginner’s Guide to Bats.” This first of its kind
field guide to bats of the United States and Canada provides
information
about individual species. Specifics about roosting, flight,
migration and more can be found in this book. In addition,
after you go on
several bat walks, you may want to build or purchase your own
bat detector.
Links
to bat coloring pages
Big
brown bat
Fruit bats and vampire bat
Cartoon bat
Fruit bat, crossword puzzle, and more
Bats at Enchanted Learning (printouts, crafts, and quiz)
Fun Facts about
Bats!
Bats are the only flying mammals. Flying squirrels only glide.
The order that bats are in is called “Chiroptera,” meaning
hand-wing. The bat wing structure is similar to a human hand. There
are 4 long “fingers” with thin skin stretched
between them. The thumb is small, has a nail on it, and is
useful for
crawling, grooming, and holding onto food.
There are 1,105 different species of bats in the world, making
up about a quarter of all mammal species. There are 45 different
species of bats that live in the United States and Canada. Most
bat species live in the tropical regions of the world.
Mega-Bats are large bats found in the “old-world” tropical
rainforests (Australia, Asia, and Africa). These bats are
also called flying foxes. They have large eyes, small ears,
large
bodies, and have a dog-like face. They either eat fruit or
drink nectar
from flowers.
Micro-Bats are small bats found all over the world. They have large
ears, small eyes, small bodies, and use echolocation, or radar,
to find their food. They eat a wide range of food.
Most bats are colonial. They often live in dead trees, caves, bat
houses, human buildings, rock crevices, and the underside of bridges.
Some bats are solitary, mainly living in live trees.
The biggest bat in the world is the Malayan flying fox found in
Asia. It weighs about 2 pounds and has a wingspan of about 6 feet.
This bat eats only fruit.
The smallest bat in the world is the Kitty’s hog-nosed bat
(also called the bumblebee bat). It is found in Thailand and weighs
about 2 grams (that’s how much a dime weighs). It has
a 6-inch wingspan.
Most bats in the North America eat insects. As a matter of fact,
one bat eats about 2,000 to 6,000 insects each night. Many of the
insects they eat include agricultural crop pests including the
tomato horned worm, corn earworm, and many kinds of beetles. Bats
also eat annoying insects like flies, mosquitoes, and gnats.
Bats that drink nectar are important pollinators of the organ pipe
cactus and saguaro cactus in the United States. They are also pollinators
of cash crops including mango, cashew, balsa, agave, and bananas.
Fruit bats around the world are important seed dispersers
in the tropical rainforest. They are considered a “keystone species,” meaning
that without them, many other plants and animals in the same
ecosystem would be adversely affected.
Bats eat a wide variety of food, including insects, fruit, nectar,
fish, frogs, rodents, lizards, birds, and blood.
There are three species of vampire bats. They live in southern
Mexico, Central America, and South America. Vampires are
small bats that drink blood from cows, goats, pigs, and chickens.
They have an anticoagulant in their saliva that keeps the
blood
flowing
as long as they are licking. Vampires are small bats that
usually drink a tablespoon’s worth of blood per feeding.
Vampires are very social animals and even have been known
to feed sick
or elderly bats.
Some species of bats have been detected flying over 50 miles per
hour. Other species have been detected flying over 3,000 feet above
ground in search of insect prey.
Bats usually have one baby once a year. Some bats commonly have
twins. A few bats have been know to have 3, 4, 5 babies at one
time. Tropical fruit bats usually have 1 baby twice a year. Bat
babies typically weigh about 25% of an adult at birth.
The oldest bat fossil (found in Wyoming, USA) is estimated to be
52 million years old.
Bats live a very long time. Most bats live between 10 and 20 years.
Some bats typically live to 30 years old. The oldest known bat
was recently recaptured in Europe at 41 years old.
When winter comes, some bats migrate to warmer climates.
Other bats find a cave or mine to spend the winter. Hibernation
allows
them to avoid freezing temperatures. During hibernation,
a bat’s
heart pumps about 11 beats a minute. In contrast, when bats
are awake and flying, their heart pumps over 1,000 beats
a minute.
Bats form the largest groups of mammals in the world. Bracken Cave
(Texas) houses a colony of about 25 million Mexican free-tailed
bats. Congress Avenue bridge (Austin, Texas) accommodates the largest
congregation of bats in an urban setting: almost 1 million bats.
Bats cannot stand upright due to a very small pelvic girdle. They
hang upside down nearly all the time. Blood does not rush to their
head because they do not weight enough for gravity to effect their
circulation.
About half of all the bat species in the world are either threatened
or endangered. This is due primarily to habitat destruction, pollution,
and human persecution. Some bat species are illegally hunted and
sold for meat in Africa and Asia.
Bat houses can give bats a much needed home. Many bats live in
human buildings because their natural habitat is no longer available.
Bat houses should be mounted at least 12 to 15 feet off the ground,
and facing an open, sunny location. They work best if placed on
a pole, side of building, or tall mature tree with a lot of trunk
space.
Very few bats contract rabies. Over the last 50 years, less than
40 people have gotten rabies from a wild bat. Scientific studies
have shown that less than 1% of wild bats test positive for rabies.
Nation-wide, about 5% of bats sent to state laboratories test positive
for rabies. This number is higher because sick individuals are
more likely to be caught and turned in for testing. Most colonies
from buildings contain no rabid individuals. If people come in
contact with a bat, they should contact their family physician
or health department for advice regarding testing and treatment.
Pets should be vaccinated against rabies to ensure their safety
from wild mammals.
Glossary
of Bat Terms
Adaptation – A
change in how something looks functions or acts allowing better
survival and multiplication.
Chiroptera – The order of mammals that includes all bats.
The word literally means “hand-wing.”
Climate- A regions usual weather conditions over time.
Colony- A group of bats living together.
Conservation – The official care and protection of natural
resources, including wildlife.
Convergent Evolution- Unrelated organisms having similar traits
due to similar needs.
Diurnal- Active by day
Echolocation – The use of reflected sound from an emitter
(such as a bat or dolphin) to locate objects
Ecology- The study of organisms relating to their environments.
Ecosystem – An ecological community functioning as a unit
within its environment.
Endangered – A species of animal whose number have decreased
to the point that they may become extinct.
Extinction- All of a particular organism have died everywhere
Food Web- All food chains put together in an ecological community
Guano – Bat droppings
Hibernation – A state of greatly reduced activity and metabolism
produced by the lowering of body temperature. It occurs in winter,
enabling an animal to survive on stored fat reserves until spring.
Habitat – Places where animals live.
Insectivore – Animals that eat insects.
Life Cycle- An organism’s changes over its lifetime.
Megachiroptera (megabat) – One of two suborders of chiroptera
(bats). Larger bats found only in Old World
Tropical Rainforest.
These fruit eating bats have large eyes and can see in color. Also
known as flying foxes.
Metamorphosis- An organism’s change in form from one life
stage to another.
Microchiroptera (mirobat) - One of the two suborders of chiroptera
(bats). These are smaller bats that can be found on every continent
except Antarctica. These bats have small eyes and only see in black
and white. Microbats also have the ability to echolocate. Most
microbats eat insects. All the bats found in North America are
microbats.
Migrate – To move to another region with the change of seasons.
Niche- The position or function of an organism in a community.
Nocturnal – Animals that are active at night and sleep during
the day.
Pollinate – To transfer pollen to the pistil of a flower,
resulting in seed production.
Predator – Animals that hunt and eat other animals.
Torpor – A state of reduced activity and metabolism similar
to hibernation but not necessarily associated with a particular
season. Many bats can enter torpor to save energy at almost any
time.
Play
Bat and Moth
Bats can find their food using sounds waves called echolocation.
Play this game to see if can be the bat and catch a moth using
sounds and your hearing alone.
You will need:
4 or more friends
Blind fold
Large area to play in
How to play:
Decide who will be the bat and who will be the moth. Everyone else
will be trees.All the trees make a circle around the bat and
the moth.The object of the game is for the bat to catch the
moth. Both the bat and the moth can move inside the circle
of trees but can’t
go outside it.
Blind fold the bat, and spin the bat around three times.
Then the bat stouts “bat!” and the moth has to immediately
say “moth!” back. As the bat moves in the direction
of the sounds from the moth, the moth tries to escape. (It’s
best if the bat and moth walk.) The bat can call “bat” as
much times as they want and the moth must instantly answer “moth”.
If the bat or moth bumps into a tree the trees stouts “tree”.
The game ends when the bat touches the moth. Then the moth can
be the bat and one of the trees can be the moth. If there are a
lot of players try playing with more then one bat and moth.
How
Do You Feel About Bats?
Prior to having
OBC visit with live bats have the students write down how they
feel about bats. (like, dislike, not sure) Then after
the program have the students again write how they feel about bats.
See if any feelings have changed.
Bat
Exhibits
Milwaukee County Zoo
10001 W. Bluemound Rd.
Milwaukee, WI 53226-4384
Oregon Zoo
4001 S.W. Canyon Rd
Portland, OR 97221-2799
Akron Zoological Park
500 Edgewood Ave
Akron, OH 44307-2199
Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens
2001 N. Clark St
Chicago, IL 60614-0903
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
3900 Wildlife Way
Cleveland, OH 44109
Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
P.O. Box 400
9990 Riverside Dr
Powell, OH 43065-0400
Lake Superior Zoological Gardens
7210 Fremont St.
Duluth, MN 55807
St. Paul’s Como Zoo
1225 Estabrook Dr
St. Paul, MN 55103
Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
3400 Vine St
Cincinnati, OH 45220-1399
Minnesota Zoological Garden
13000 Zoo Blvd
Apple Valley, MN 55124-8199
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
1200 N. Savannah Circle E
P.O. Box 10000
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-1000
Ideas
to Raise Money for Bats
|
Youth Service America at www.ysa.org
Hewitt Packard at www.hp.com
Lowe’s Home Improvement at www.toolboxforeducation.com
National Endowment for the Humanities at www.neh.gov
Pay it Forward Foundation at www.payitforwardfoundation.org
Do Something at www.dosomething.org
Actuarial Foundation at www.actuarialfoundation.org
NEA Foundation at www.neafoundation.org
Toshiba American Foundation at www.toshiba.com
Toyota Tapestry Grants at www.nsta.org
Airborne Teacher Trust Fund at www.airbornetrust.com
Outdoor Classroom Grant by Lowes at www.lowes.com
Home Depot Grant www.homedepot.com
National Geographic Teacher Grant at www.nationalgeographic.com
Captain Planet Foundation at www.captainplanetfdn.org
DonorsChoose.org at www.donorschoose.org
Coins for
Congo
The students at Del Rio Elementary School in
Chino Valley, Arizona, were proud to help
raise money for bat research through its "Coins for Congo" fund-raising
campaign. The campaign ran for a month and children at school brought in extra
coins from home to contribute to the cause. Mrs. Paula Parker, the Primary
Computer Lab teacher here at Del Rio School,
was the one who launched the program. What
began as a science research project on bats became a school-wide effort to
support
research on bats, especially in light of recent evidence of illnesses in bat
colonies around the world, especially in the eastern part of our country.
In addition to the 2nd grade research project, Mrs. Parker created two school-wide
bulletin boards-- one in the Kdg-2nd grade wing of the school and one in the
School Lobby Area, accessed and seen by all students at school, Kdg-5th grade.
The KDRN Closed-circuit TV studio dedicated several news spots about the campaign
and also reported general information regarding bats during the month-long
event.
The students at Del Rio Elementary School raised over $400 for Congo! We love
you Congo! Eat more fruits!
Patricia Allen-LaFleur
KDRN TV Studio SponsorImage description:
Student council members presenting Mrs. Parker
with envelopes filled with coins for Congo.
They are standing next to the colorful and
informative bulletin
board that Mrs. Parker created in the School Lobby.
|
Additional
websites with lesson plans |
http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/bats.html
http://wings.avkids.com/Curriculums/Bats/index.html
http://www.theteachersguide.com/batslessonplans.htm
http://atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/Bats/
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson031.shtml
http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/bats/activities.htm
www.bat4kids.org
www.batcon.org
www.meree.osmre.gov/bats/
www.batbox.org |
Booking
live bat programs |
|
Our
bats can come to your school, group, or event!
The Organization for Bat Conservation's live bat programs travel
throughout the United States. Our programs have won numerous awards.
These programs are fun, entertaining, interactive and feature a variety
of LIVE bats! See a slide show and photographs of
our programs.
The
Organization for Bat Conservation takes our bat ambassadors
throughout the United States! See
if we will be presenting in your state
soon.
Programs:
Bats
of the world: with live flying foxes
Nocturnal
animals: with live owls
Basically
bats: with live microbats
Bats
programs by the directors: with the largest bat in the world
