BatsPrepared By: C4 8th Grade 01-05-97Contents1. Title PagePage.
. . 12. ContentsPage.
. . 23. Bat Facts Page. .
. 3-44. Congress Ave. BridgePage.
. . 5-65. How To Get A Bat Out Of Your HousePage. .
. 66. About Bat HousesPage. .
. 77. ReferencesPage. .
. 8+My report is on bats. I will start my story off by telling you somefacts about bats. Bat Facts1. Did you know that the worlds smallest mammal is a Bumblebee bat that livesin Thailand.
It weighs less than a penny! 2. Vampire bats adopt orphanpups(the name for a baby bat) and have been known to risk their lives to share foodwith the less fortunate. 3. The African Heart-Nosed bat can hear the footstepsof a beetle walking on sand from a distance of over six feet! 4.
The giantFlying Fox bat from Indonesia has a wing span of six feet! 5. Disk-winged batsof Latin America have adhesive disks on both feet that enable them to live inunfurling banana leaves (or even walk up a window pane). 6. Nearly 1,000 kindsof bats account for almost a quarter of all mammal species, and most are highlybeneficial.
7. Worldwide, bats are the most important natural enemies of night-flying insects! 8. A single brown bat can catch over 600 mosquitoes in just onehour! 9. Tropical bats are key elements in rain forest ecosystems which rely onthem to pollinate flowers and disperse seeds for countless trees and shrubs. 10. Bat droppings in caves support whole ecosystems of unique organisms, includingbacteria useful in detoxifying wastes, improving detergents, and producinggasohol and antibiotics.
11. More than 50% of American bat species are insevere decline or already listed as endangered. Losses are occurring atalarming rates worldwide. 12.
All mammals can contract rabies; however, eventhe less than half of one percent of bats that do, normally bite only in self-defense and pose little threat to people who do not handle them. 13. Ananticoagulant from Vampire bat saliva may soon be used to treat human heartpatients. 14.
Contrary to popular misconception, bats are not blind, do notbecome entangled in human hair, and seldom transmit disease to other animals orhumans. Well, enough with the facts. I think that should get you ready for therest of my essay. Austin, Texas Congress Ave. BridgeA Bit Of History. .
. . . . .
When Engineers reconstructed downtown Austin’s Congress Bridge in 1980,they had no idea that the new crevices beneath the bridge would make an idealbat roost. Although ba. . . . .
ts had lived in Austin for years, it was headline newswhen they suddenly began moving by the thousands under the bridge. Reacting infear, many people petitioned to have the bat colony eradicated. About that time, Bat Conservation International (BCI) stepped in andtold Austinites the surprising truth: that bats are gentle and incrediblysophisticated animals, that bat-watchers have nothing to fear if they don’t tryto handle the bats, and that on the nightly flights out from under the bridge,Austin bats eat 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of insects, including mosquitoes andnumerous agricultural pests. As the city came to appreciate its bats, the population under theCongress Avenue Bridge grew to be the largest urban bat colony in North America. With up to 1. 5 million bats spiraling into the summer sunset, Austin now has oneof the most unusual and fascinating tourist attractions anywhere!Congress Avenue Bridge’s bats are mostly Mexican free-tails (Tadaridabrasiliensis).
These bats migrate each spring from central Mexico. Most of thecolony is female, and early June each one gives birth to a single baby bat. Atbirth the babies weigh one-third as much as their mothers (the equivalent of ahuman giving birth to a 40-pound child!). The pink, hairless babies will growto be about three to four inches long, with a wingspan of up to a foot. In justfive weeks, they will learn to fly and hunt insects on their own. Until thattime, each Mother bat locates her pup (baby bat) among the thousands by itsdistinctive voice and scent.
What To Do If A Bat Gets Stuck In Your House1. Open a door or window and wait for it to fly out. 2. Wait for the bat tocalm down and stop flying.
When it has stopped flying put a bowl over it andthen slide cardboard under the bowl. Then all you have to do is open the doorand pick the bowl up. 3. Another way is to build a net. It should looksomething like one of the nets that you use to catch butterflies in. If You Would Like To Keep Bats Around Your House To Keep Those Insects Away ThisSummer.
You can order instructions on how to build a bat house or you can buyone . My dad and I found instructions on how to build a bat house for 40-50bats. We found these instructions in a magazine. I found instructions on theInternet for sale for $6. 95. They also sold the same bat house that my dad andI built (the one in the magazine for 40-50 bats).
They were selling the bathouse for $50. We built ours for about $8!You can help protect bats by simply spreading the word about thesegentle and beneficial animals. Tell a friend. Teach a child or parent. Writea letter to your government representative.
Join BCI and become a member. Youcan even build your very own bat house.
