Email
Print
del.icio.us
digg
yahoo!
CommentsBat Facts
Here are some more bat facts and tips on spotting them.
- There are 16 bat species known in Orange County. The largest bat colony
Stephanie Remington has documented in the county was made up of 2,000-3,000
bats.
- Most bats in the United States are insectivores. Of the 1,100-plus bat species in the world, three-quarters have at least some insects in their diet. Bats can also eat fruit, meat, etc., depending on the species. They are also great plant pollinators.
- A bat's dwelling is called a roost. Bat roosting and foraging habitats are very diverse, and there are several different kinds of roosts, including maternity roosts and night roosts.
- Bats have good vision and an additional sensory tool, known as echolocation (sonar), used to hunt insects and avoid potential obstacles over short distances.
| Bat Spotting Finding them: If you want to catch a glimpse of bats in the area, check out your local ball parks, county parks -- especially those with ponds -- and urban areas near open land. Follow the bugs. Where there are insects hanging out, there will be bats. You'll have a better chance of spotting bats during summer time and just after sunset. Seeing them: Bats have a very large wing span compared to their body size, which differentiates them from birds. If you see something flying after sunset with large wings and a tiny body, that's a bat. Hearing them: Some bats produce social calls audible to the human ear. These calls sound like chirping or clicking across the sky. (But most bat calls are above the highest frequency of sound detectable by human ears. Women can usually hear higher frequency sounds than men and younger people can usually hear higher sounds than adults.) |
Do you like what you read? Subscribe to Coast Magazine »
Reader Comments: