Bats

Flying fox bat

     Bats are misunderstood and feared by many, probably because of things like rabies, pointy teeth and hanging upside down to sleep which is weird. But, they are pretty amazing animals. 

1) Bats are the only mammals able to fly. What's more, the are exceptional fliers. 
2) A single brown bat can catch around 1,200 mosquito-size insects an hour. In Bracken Cave, Texas, it's estimated that the 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats that live there eat about 200 tons of insects every night. 
3) There are only three species of vampire bats in the world, but they don't suck blood. They bite then lap it up. 
4) Bats don't eat just bugs. They can digest bananas, mangoes, and berries. 
5) Fewer than 10 people in the last 50 years have contracted rabies from bats in North America. Generally bats don't spread disease and toxins to innocent victims and they avoid people. If you are bitten by a bat, go to the doctor.  You will likely panic, but don't start making funeral arrangements. 
6) They can see things in the daytime, but most of their business is conducted under the cover of darkness. Bats don't see very well at night, but they use echo location to to fly around with great accuracy. They send out beeps and listen for variations in the echoes that bounce back at them. Bats are nocturnal, mostly because it's easier to hunt bugs and stay out of the way of predators when it's dark. 
7) More than 50 percent of bat species in the United States are either in severe decline or are listed as endangered. Industry, deforestation, pollution, and killing have wiped out many bats and their habitats. A couple of years ago I discovered a bat had taken up residence in an upstairs window by lodging between the open window and the screen. It refused to be frightened away so I had to wait til dark when it left and close the window. Up close they are ugly as sin. 

Not cute!

8) In the bat cave where it's usually cold bats keep warm by folding their wings around them, trapping air against their bodies for insulation. 
9) An anticoagulant found in vampire bat spit may find use as a treatment for human cardiac patients. The stuff that keeps blood flowing when a vampire bat bites its prey seems to keep blood flowing in human being. 
10) Bats have only one baby, called a pup, a year. Most mammals of smallish size have way more offspring than that. 
11) The average lifespan of a bat varies, but some species of brown bat can live to be 30 years old. Considering that other small mammals live only two years or so, that's impressive. 
12) Bats wash behind their ears. They are meticulous when it comes to grooming themselves and each othet. 

74 Interesting Facts about Bats is a must read!