Bats! Bats! Bats!

And Happy Halloween...

I try to do a Halloween post each year. This year instead of complaining about the lack of science behind the belief in ghosts, I’m doing a fun science post on bats! Note, I’m cribbing the title from the recent talk on bats I attended in full transparency. If you want more scary stuff (either fiction, or about how bad so much of science is) do consider subscribing. Paid subscriptions are even better! Help fund Halloween candy for our local kids…

Recently, I got to attend a public talk on the science of bats. I loved it, and found it super informative. So, in honor of Halloween, here are a few fun bat facts.

· The vast majority of bats in the US and Canada eat insects. Fruit bats are more common to the tropics.

· Bats can consume their own weight in bugs each night, twice that if a pregnant female.

· Bats are more closely related to other carnivores such as cats and dogs, than rats.

· Most female bats have just one pup a year, though some species have more. Mortality of bat pups is pretty high in the wild.

· Many bats are pollinators. The cocoa we need for chocolate depends on them to spread seeds, so go bats! Other fruits like bananas are also highly dependent on bats for pollination.

· Like humans, bats have opposable thumbs.

· A bat’s wings are stretched out between its incredibly long fingers, attached down to its ankles.

· Bats are the only truly flying mammal. Sorry flying squirrels, you just glide. Bats can hover and fly in reverse.

· Some bats can reach flying speeds up to 100mph.

· Bats aren’t interested in your hair. They won’t get stuck in it.

· Bats live a good long while. Most species can live between 15-40 years.

· There are no vampire bats in the US, your mother-in-law notwithstanding. They all live in the tropics.

· Like cats, bats groom and clean themselves.

· Florida bats like it hot. Bat houses have to be in sun and the bats like it between 85-100 degrees. No AC for them!

· Although many bats are communal, some solitary bats live in the older fronds of sable palms. Trimming the old fronds kills many bats each year and also isn’t great for the tree.

· Some bats will search for bugs blown in on winds at heights up to 10,000 feet, about the maximum height of many WWI fighter planes.

· Most bats can see just fine, thank you, but rely on echolocation to find bugs.

· Most bats don’t carry rabies. Less than 1% ever get the disease. Humans mostly catch rabies from dogs. Fun fact: Opossums are apparently quite resistant to rabies.

· Bats are at significant risk due to habitat loss. Fortunately, most Florida bats are doing “ok”, though several species are endangered. Florida has, thus far, avoided some of the most dangerous fungal diseases harming bat populations in other parts of the world.

· Without bats, we get lots more bugs, so I vote for the bats.

So…bats are good! Build a bat house, or just plant a sable palm and don’t trim the fronds. And enjoy Halloween!