They are not afraid of the dark!

Bats have a creepy reputation – but do they deserve it?  Let’s find out!

Bats are very important to the natural environment.   Many of these winged-creatures like to eat flower and fruit nectar.  When bats fly from one plant to the next, they spread the pollen and nectar around.  Just like bees and butterflies, bats help pollinate hundreds of important plant crops throughout the world!

Most bats love to eat insects.  In fact, 70% of all bats on the planet eat bugs.  Even though this diet may seem a little gross, it is very important, because it helps keep mosquito, fly, and other insect populations from growing too large.  A single American brown bat is thought to eat over 1200 insects in just one night alone!  Without bats, our world would be quickly overwhelmed by countless bugs.

The old adage “blind as a bat” is not actually true!  Many bats have good vision, and even if they don’t, bats can rely on their sense of smell and echolocation abilities to help them out.  What is echolocation?!  Basically, bats can send out high-pitched frequencies (that squeaky noise we humans sometimes hear), which bounce off physical objects, and help the bat determine how far away an object is located.  Bats use echolocation to navigate around trees, caves, and buildings, and it even helps them find prey.

Finally, although bats have a creepy reputation, these fuzzy-covered, flying mammals rarely attack humans.  Even the infamous and tiny “vampire bats” of South America usually do not feed on people, but prefer to lap up a little blood for diner from large, soundly sleeping farm animals.