Bats are almost always thought of in connection with witches, goblins, evil spirits and bad luck. There are even silly stories about bats flying into people's hair, though there is no record that this ever happened. How do you suppose the bats came to have such a bad reputation? Perhaps it is because most bats sleep during the day and fly only after dusk when it is very difficult for us to observe them. Perhaps it is because they are the only mammals that really fly, and for years many people believed bats to be a strange kind of bird. It is also true that vampire bats have the very unusual habit of living on a diet of blood, and they have helped to give all bats a bad reputation. At any rate, the bat has been a very misunderstood mammal for a long time.
Bats are found all over the world except in very cold countries, borne 01 them are almost as small as hummingbirds, while others have a wingspread of more than five feet. Their fur may be red, yellow, white, silver or a shade of brown. They live on many kinds of food. Some African, Australian and Philippine bats, among which are the largest of all bats, are known as fruit-eaters, because they live on the wild yd cultivated fruits of those countries. The fish-eating bats of Trinidad are small to scoop up the fish in the membrane of skin between their legs, although no one knows exactly how this fishing is done. Birds, mice and rats fall prey to certain meat-eating bats of India, China and South America.
The vampire bats live only in Mexico and Central and South America. Blood is their sole food, since their teeth and digestive systems are not fitted for any other food. A vampire bat will gouge out a little of the skin of an animal with its sharp front teeth and lap the blood as it flows from the wound. Occasionally one will bite a sleeping man usually on the big toe sticking out from under the blankets, and the attack is so gentle that it does not awaken the victim. The danger of the vampire's bite lies in repeated attacks and in infection.
All the bats of the United States are insectivorous (insect-eating), medium to small in size, and harmless. Their teeth are too small and weak to injure anyone seriously. Many insects upon which they feed are harmful to man in one way or another.
The bats are very interesting because they fly with marvelous control. No insect-eating bat ever deliberately landed in anyone's hair, and he is far too skillful a flier to happen there accidentally. He can nose-dive, bank, and "stop on a dime‚'' while ''flying blind'' in the darkness of the night or in a gloomy cave. ''Blind as a bat'' however, is a rather meaningless expression since bats are not blind, though it is true that they do not see well in the bright sunlight. The eyes of insectivorous bats are well-developed though so small that the bats cannot possibly see the tiny insects upon which they feed. Scientists have experimented with the bat's control in flight. They tell us that the key to the mystery seems to lie in the animal's highly developed sense of touch. The bat is apparently very sensitive to air pressure and sound waves. Perhaps it can feel and hear insects it cannot see.
Bats often rest by hanging upside down from seemingly smooth surfaces. They are able to do this because of the sharply curved claws on their feet. Most bats also have small claws on their thumbs, and the fruit-eaters have two claws on each wing, one on the thumb, the other on the first finger.
Scientists who have experimented with bats say that they are queer animals. Sometimes they are wide awake and active for a while, and then suddenly become sullen and temperamental. They will retire to some corner, hang themselves up by their feet and refuse to budge for hours. Some of them are said to have very bad dispositions, but perhaps that is due, at least in part, to the fact that they are often rudely awakened from a sound sleep.
It is unfortunate that our small, harmless and really beneficial bats have been misunderstood only because of their unusual habits and appearance and the bad reputation given them by a few South American cousins, the vampires, who turned out to be the ''black sheep'' of the family. Whipple
After your read about bats, craft a few paper ones to improve your memory about bats:
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