Post #10

-Bats-

      Bats are the only mammals that can fly, unlike flying squirrels and gliding possums which can only glide for short periods of time. Their forelimbs form webbed wings, which are long and covered with a thin membrane. 

      Most bats are nocturnal, and they most often hunt and fly around at twilight. They live in caves,  their days spent grooming and sleeping. In the 1790's, some experiments were done and it was discovered that bats aren't using their eyes to navigate through the darkness, but their ears. They mostly eat insects, blood, vertebrates and fruit. 

They consume so many bugs that if bats went extinct, the insect population would be extremely high. There are over 1,200 species of bats, put into two different groups of bats: megabats and microbats. 

• Megabats are larger, and live in tropical areas. They eat fruit and nectar, and have big eyes. They use sight and smell to find food. 
• Microbats are small, with large ears and small eyes. They find their food using echolocation (sending out a small squeak from their mouth or nose to locate bugs).

Bats have been associated with witchcraft and black magic for a long time. In western cultures, bats are a symbol of darkness, and the evils of the night. They are often involved with fictional characters of the night both evil and good, such as Dracula and Batman. 
My favorite species of bat is the little brown bat and the giant golden-crowned flying fox. 

    Here's a video of lots of bats in a roof:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc8ACBiwIyE