August 29 – International Bat Nights

Posted on August 29, 2015

Like Bat Appreciation Day, International Bat Nights celebrates the many, varied species of bats. This year, IBNs are August 29 to August 30 (the last full weekend in August).

I'm sure you know that bats are the only mammals capable of true flight. You might also know that bats range in size from tiny – the bumblebee bat is only a bit larger than an inch long (3 cm) and 0.07 ounces (2 g) – to surprisingly large – flying foxes (which are of course bats, not foxes!) have wingspans up to 6 feet (1.8 m)!

Bats live all over the world, including in rain forests, mountains, farmland, temperate forests, and even cities – but they don't live in polar areas. (Oh, and a some islands are bat-less.)

Most bats prefer warm areas, but those who live in areas with cold winters either migrate or hibernate.

Bat guano

I really like to go on cave tours, and many caves are places where bats like to hang out either during the day or during cold weather. Because of this, many cave tours include pointing out piles of guano (bat poop)! 

At Carlsbad Caverns, NM, summertime visitors can watch millions of Mexican free tailed bats head out of the cave every evening! 

At Kartchner Caverns, AZ, rangers close half of the tours each summer so that the one to two thousand common cave bats who use the “Big Room” section of the caves as a nursery will not be disturbed. The Big Room is only open to people during the time the bats don't use the cave!

Bats in a cave

To find out more about bats, check out this video or some of the bat stuff over at KidZone. 

Build a bat house to help bats living in your area! Here's how. 

Did you know...?

• Although different bat species eat different things – from fruit to pollen to insects to blood – most North American bats eat insects. That's one reason people want to help bats survive, and many people build and erect bat houses. Even small bats can eat from 2,000 to 6,000 insects EVERY NIGHT! A single little brown bat can eat 1,000 mosquitoes in just one hour! And colonies of bats commonly eats hundreds of TONS of insects every night.

• Many agricultural products such as fruits (bananas and mangoes, for example) and nuts (cashews and almonds, for example) rely on bats for pollination and seed dispersal.

• Bats are the largest group of mammals in the world. About one fourth of all species of mammals are bats!

Also on this date:

More Herbs, Less Salt Day  

Slovakia's National Uprising Day

According to Hoyle Day

Nut Spas in Russia

Anniversary of a phone call from space to ocean depths

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

• August holidays 
• August birthdays 
• Historical anniversaries in August

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

• September holidays
• September birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in September

April 17, 2012 - Bat Appreciation Day

In the colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere, bats are beginning to emerge from hibernation. What better time to celebrate them?

Why celebrate bats?

• They are the only mammals capable of true flight.

• They can “see” what we can't, in the dark, using echolocation. Bats emit ultrasonic sounds and then listen to the reflected sounds (or echoes); from the reflections their brains build a detailed image that includes distance and textures of things in the environment. Bats also listen for other sounds, such as those created by their insect prey: the fluttering of moth wings or the movement of earwigs in the ground. It's hard to imagine that bats can hear such teeny sounds while emitting 15 signals each and every second and listening for the echoes of those sounds, too, all the while flying at 5 to 10 miles per hour—even up to 60 miles per hour! Bats can tell the distance of walls and trees and insects, they can tell the difference between hard- and soft-bodied insects, and they can “see” and avoid wires as thin as a human hair!

• Bats rid our world of many bothersome, disease-spreading, crop-invading insects. (Well, the insectivorous bats do, at least. Some bats eat fruit rather than insects.) One little brown bat can eat 1,000 mosquitos in JUST ONE HOUR! With a lifespan of almost 40 years, a little brown bat can eat a LOT of mosquitos!

Find out more about bats at Amazing Bat Facts. 

Help save bats!

Unfortunately, many bat species are in trouble. Bats are susceptible to pesticides and other poisons; they can be killed by wind turbines; their homes and hibernacula are often disturbed by spelunking (cave exploration) or other human activities. Check out this blog post to learn more about dangers to bats.

Google “bat rescue” to see if you can find any local efforts to save bats. Perhaps you can donate money, build bat houses for your backyard,  or teach others about the importance of bats to our ecosystem. Here is a story about a rescue of some orphaned baby bats in Australia (check out the adorable photo!),  and here is an organization trying to save bats in the U.S. 

Also on this date:

Astronomer Giovanni Riccioli's birthday 

Anniversary of the arrival of horses in the New World