All About Bats
If you’ve recently found bats in your attic, you may have a number of reactions. The sight of bats can be pretty scary, but the more you know about these animals, the less fearful you’re likely to be. Of course, if you’re an animal lover, you may want to know more about bats as well. Are you wondering how these animals live and why parts of your home are appealing to them? Here are a few bat facts that you may find interesting.
Classification
As you may know, bats sleep upside down. However, bats don’t spend the majority of their time sleeping. They are actually very similar to cats in that they are mammals. They spend more time grooming themselves than resting or eating.
If you’re wondering, “are bats rodents?”, the animals are classified as both bird and mammal according to some animal specialists. Bats are not rodents; they belong to the mammal class Chiroptera, and rodents are in the Rodentia mammal class. Chiroptera is divided into two classes: the first, flying foxes, which are more common and feed mostly on fruit. The second, microbats, which are known for echolocation, their use of ultra-high frequency sound for navigation and for finding prey.
Sustained Flight
Bats are also the only mammals that can engage in sustained flight. They don’t simply glide through the air the way that flying squirrels and some varieties of possums do. Their wings are actually their forelimbs. The part of the bat’s wings that flap is the animal’s “hands,”. The “fingers” on the wings are connected by a membrane called the patagium. Their wings have Merkel cells on them, which are similar to the fingertips on humans. Each cell has a small hair that bats can sense the wind with while flying. The hairs prompt bats to change their direction in flight if necessary.
Types of Bats
When you see a bat, it can be difficult to tell which type of bat you’re looking at, since there are around 1,204 bat species in the world. Bats make up about 1/5 of all the world’s mammals. These animals can be found almost anywhere in the world, except for the North and South Pole and some small islands in the ocean.
Bat Lifespan
The bat lifespan is pretty long, as well. Bats can live for about two decades and there has even been a report of a brown bat that lived for 30 years. This is further proof that bats are not rodents since most rats and mice only live for about a year.
Are Bats Nocturnal?
If you’ve heard bats or think you’ve heard bats in your attic at night, you may be right. The answer to the question “are bats nocturnal?”, is yes. Bats search for their food at night and are less active in the daytime so they don’t have to fight with other predators for food. Bats will find bugs to eat as nourishment, but they eat a significant amount of fruit, as well.
Are Bats Endangered?
So, are bats endangered? This is a valid question if you used to see bats in your area but haven’t observed too many in your neighborhood anymore. There are more than 1,000 species of bats, so while some varieties are not as prominent anymore, bats will likely not be extinct any time soon.
Need Help
If you find that bats are inhabiting your home space, contact the experts in bat removal at NJ Pest. We are a professional pet control company located in Randolph, NJ. We offer high-quality and reliable pet control services and can get rid of bats safely and efficiently. Contact Us to learn more or schedule your bat removal appointment.
