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Bats

Bats. Misunderstood, Bug-Eating Machines. Bat Myths and Folklore. Carry Rabies Attack you and Drink your blood Get caught in your hair Flying Mice Bats are blind. Bat Facts.

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Bats

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  1. Bats Misunderstood, Bug-Eating Machines

  2. Bat Myths and Folklore • Carry Rabies • Attack you and Drink your blood • Get caught in your hair • Flying Mice • Bats are blind

  3. Bat Facts • Many bats can eat up to half their weight in food in a single night.  One little brown bat can eat more than 600 mosquitoes in a single hour. • There are over 900 different species of bats.  Most bats are found in the tropics.   • Small bats use echolocation to find insects.  They send out sounds that bounce off of objects.  • During cold weather, some bats will move to a warmer place to live.  Some bats will hibernate during the winter. 

  4. Bat Anatomy

  5. Bat Feet

  6. Bat Ears & Echolocation • A bat emits a sound wave and listens carefully to the echoes that return to it. • By determining how long it takes a noise to return, the bat's brain figures out how far away an object is. • The bat can also determine where the object is, how big it is and in what direction it is moving.

  7. Cold-Weather • Migration • Torpor • Hibernation

  8. What do bats do for us? • Pest control • For humans and crops • #1 predator of night flying insects • Pollination and Seed Dispersal • Fertilizer • Medical advances

  9. Bat Social Lives

  10. Caves and Mines • Some bats roost or hibernate in caves or mines.

  11. Bats & Rabies • Rabies is a severe viral disease that affects the central nervous system. It is almost always fatal. All warm-blooded mammals including humans are susceptible to rabies. • Very few bats have rabies. And bats are not "carriers" of rabies - spreading the disease without being harmed themselves. • Whenever an animal is acting strangely, it should be avoided. If a wild animal allows you to approach it, something is wrong.

  12. White Nose Syndrome

  13. WNS

  14. WNS • Bats Fly out in the Winter and die.

  15. Threats to bats • Humans • habitat loss • Anger/hatred or Misunderstood- kill them outright or damage roosts/habitat. • Bat predators include snakes, birds of prey, and small mammals • Strikes with buildings, smokestacks, and wind turbines. • Diseases White Nosed Syndrome (WNS), Rabies, and others.

  16. What can you do to help bats? Improve and maintain their habitat: • Water sources • Roost trees • Ponds, Streams, and Woodlots for foraging Help protect roosts and hibernacula Help educate others about bats

  17. Identifying Bats Bats can be identified by: • Coloration, Size, and Habitat. • Calls and Vocalizations • Location and Activity

  18. Bats of Michigan 9 species in MI (8 of these are found in the UP) • Eastern Pipistrelle • Little Brown Bat  • Evening Bat • Keen's Myotis (or Northern Long-ear Bat) • Big Brown Bat   • Silver-haired Bat   • Hoary Bat   • Red Bat • Indiana Bat (Federally Endangered) Silver-haired Bat (BCI)

  19. Big Brown Bat

  20. Little Brown Myotis

  21. Red Bat (with 2 pups)

  22. Hoary Bat

  23. Bat Population Surveys • Bat detectors are used to detect the presence of bats and also to come to conclusions about their species. • Some bat calls are distinct and easy to recognize, most are not. • Bats also emit social calls (non-echolocation calls) at ultrasound frequencies. • Bats are often captured to record vital data and for banding/radio-tagging.

  24. Mist-Netting

  25. Radio Telemetry

  26. Bat Detector Converts ultrasonic bat calls into our hearing range. Can help identify bat spp.

  27. More Information: • Bat Conservation International (BCI) www.batcon.org

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