Bats are the only true flying mammals. There are over 1,400 species of bats, and they can be found on nearly every part of the planet. Not only are they cute, they are also important...
Studying how bats use echolocation has helped scientists develop navigational aids for the blind. Without bats’ pollination, seed dispersal, and pest control we wouldn’t have bananas, avocados, mangoes, agave, or cacao… that’s right, bats bring us tequila and chocolate!
Do not handle it with bare hands! Bats can carry rabies.
Here's a map of worldwide rescues and temporary care instructions.
Bats should never be kept as pets: Here's why.
Our community's mascot is Baxter. Baxter is an Egyptian fruit bat that was cruelly kept alone and confined to a small cage for 12 years before being rescued by a bat sanctuary. You can read the full story by clicking on his name.
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Does anyone know what type of bat this? Poor little bugger hit my office window a while back. Was unconscious, or stunned for a bit, but did manage to fly off. Alternate angle.
Edit: I’m in the Piedmont, NC area if that helps.
I'm reasonably sure that's a little brown bat. It's a real species, not a joke (although it seems like one).
Edit: oops, wrong link! I fixed it.
Wait, these guys echolocate, don't they..? How did it manage to crash into a window?
Great question. Bats have a hard time with buildings in general because of flat, vertical surfaces. It's a physics issue.
When they make their click sound, what typically happens is the click hits a bunch of rough, natural surfaces, and a bunch of click echoes bounce back at different times and from different angles. This is what the bat brain computes to understand its surroundings.
When it approaches a flat, vertical surface at an angle, when it clicks, the echoes bounce off at an angle away from the bat. Since it doesn't hear anything in return from that area, it thinks there's nothing there. Bats can still see fairly well so they'll avoid the area if they can see it in time, but clean glass is clear, leading to bat bonk.
The same thing happens with flat horizonal surfaces, but bats will instinctually interpret that as water. An experiment from about ten years back found that bats interpret any flat, horizonal area they can't see or echolocate from as water. They'll even try to drink from it.
That's really interesting, thanks!
I didn't consider that, windows being flat, the echoes would bounce away from the bat unless it was flying directly perpendicular towards it.
Also, the water thing. Brains are weird, that's almost some Oliver Sacks mistaking one's wife for a hat kind of shit. Or how we can't really feel wetness, so we interpret certain combinations of pressure and temperature as such.
I love that "little brown bat" is their real name. And their cuteness matches it. Weird little fluffballs.
They're great! I think it's funny because we have LBBs, little brown bats, that are an actual species. In the world of mycology, we have LBMs, little brown mushrooms, which is what we call the hundreds, if not thousands, of similar looking mushroom species that just usually aren't worth identifying.
I love that the little brown bat is not related to the big brown bat. Weird little fluffballs indeed!
Thank you!
My pleasure! LBBs and wrinkle-faced bats are amongst my favorites. Wrinkle-faced bats are weird looking little dudes but they grow their own face masks!
I love me some bats so I'm a walking bat PSA.
This is a pretty cartoonish looking pose for a bat. Nice picture!
Well I’m glad he was able to fly away. I hope he’s okay :( poor lil guy
