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Show HILL TOP TIMES July 7,1978 Page 23 Tirae (EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is excerpted from the introduction of a future publication on bats by Bob Hasenyager, wildlife biologist with the Division of Wildlife Resources.) of reds, yellows, tans and browns. Bats maintain a controlled body temperature. Even though their body temperature decreases during hibernation, they have control over it. Bats have a nervous system and are capable of bear live young and nourish them with learning. Finally, they well-develop- On warm summer evenings, bats can be seen in the largest cities and the most isolated deserts and from the seacoast to the mountain tops. In fact, the only places you will not find bats are in the Arctic, Antarctic and on a few isolated oceanic islands. Bats probably have a wider global dispersal than any other mammal, with the possible exception of man. In fact, there are over 1,200 different types of bats. A census of these different types would total tens of billions of individuals. If there are so many bats about us, why is it that we seldom see them? There are several logical reasons. First, bats are most active during the evening hours when our observation capabilities are limited. Second, most bats that are native to the United States are small in relation to bats found elsewhere. Most United States bats weigh only about 1 ounce and have a inches. Tropical fruit eating bats have wing spread of wing spreads in excess of 41 feet. Finally, bats usually roost during the daytime in dark places, such as caves, attics of old buildings and under foliage, window shutters, loose bark arid rock crevices. 10-1- 2 Bats are members of the mammal family. Therefore, they are similar to humans and other mammals in many ways. They have hair (fur). Bat fur varies from short and "velvety" to long and "fluffy." Fur color includes a diversity ed milk. close examination, the wings that enable this mammal to In fact, a wing is simply a modified arm fly are human-like- . and hand interlaced with webbing. The upper arm is short and stout and the forearm long and slender. It is the fingers of the bat that have undergone radical change. They have become very elongated. If humans had fingers in the same proportion to our bodies as bats do to theirs, we would have hands in excess of four feet in length. The webbing of the wing not only extends between the fingers but also from the fifth digit, forearm and upper arm along the side of the body to the legs and feet. Most United States bats fly straight and true during ordinary flight. But when pursuing insects, flight patterns vary among different types of bats. Some species fly slowly in a moth-lik- e fashion. Others appear to be performing aerial acrobatics with amazing speed. Their particular flying habits are possibly controlled by the habits of their preferred prey species. On Bats prey on a variety of substances which include insects, fruit, meat, fish, blood, nectar and pollen. All United States bats, except a very few fruit-eatin- g species in the extreme southwest, are insectivorous. Because they hunt at night, they, have an almost exclusive market on nocturnal flying insects. Their only competitors are a iew birds and night-ilyin- g web-spinni- ng spiders. Bats consume incredible numbers of insects. The guano bats of Texas consume about 6,600 tons of insects annually. We know bats show a preference for particular insects, but how can they distinguish one from the other in the dark? Scientists tell us that individual insects set up a recognizable sound pattern of their own, and apparently the bat can tell the difference. - Recent fast speed photography indicates that a feeding bat does not always capture insects in its mouth. Instead, they "field" them with their wing tip, much like a baseball player catches a ball. The bat then transfers the insect directly to its mouth. If the captured insect is too large to eat during flight, the bat will fly to a roost and consume it. Bats are of little economic importance to humans, but warrant protection from destruction. They devour thousands of tons of insects annually, many of them harmful to man. Guano from insectivorous bats is harvested as fertilizer. Their sonar orientation systems have given man ideas on how to improve his machines. Studies on hibernation might someday lead to ways of slowing body functions without the use of anesthetics during prolonged operations or in suspended animation in space travel. Studies on the bat's ability to control its body temperature allow man insight into effect on growth, cell division, molecular replication and protein synthesis. 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