An Introduction to Bats

The bat: seemingly a very dark and mysterious creature, seen only as it wings its way through the night. It's not surprising they were thought to be evil demons and heralders of doom. So are bats really bug eyed monsters, or just our friendly neighborhood bug-watch? That's the original reason that we (Marscopar) set out to find out more about these creatures of the night.

As it turns out, bats really are wonderful animals, each one getting rid of literally thousands of bugs each night. They really aren't a danger to mankind at all. They`don't get tangled in your hair, and not only do vampire bats only live in South America, but they don't like the taste of ppl blood anyway!! Also they don't spread rabies any more than any other wild animal! It's pretty easy to avoid getting bitten by a bat If you even see a bat during the day that doesn't avoid you, then its probably sick, don't touch! And anyway, bats do not go crazy when infected by rabies, they become lethargic, so they probably aren't going to bite you!

There are basically two different kinds of bats, fruit bats (our personal favs!) and insectivorous bats. Fruit bats are exceptionally large (some have wing spans of up to 6 feet!), and are also known as flying foxes. They can be found quite a bit in Asia. Insectivorous bats are small, and they are the ones that echo-locate to find their food (that's when an animal sends out high frequency sound waves which bounce off the things around it, and then back to it. It can then get an idea of its surroundings. Dolphins also do it!).

So now that we have you convinced that bats are really wonderful and exciting animals, continues with your journey through the rat cave. And even if all that didn't convince you that bats are one of the most fascinating creatures on Earth, read on, by the end we bet you will...