THE LITTLE
BROWN BAT

Bats are the only mammals that can fly
bat


Where is it found?
The little brown bat can be found in southern Canada. It lives in caves, old mines, old houses, in cracks in walls and trees.

Bats gather in colonies to roost (rest), raise their young and to hibernate.



Appearance
It is usually about 9 cm.long and weighs about 8 grams. It can get through an opening that is a cm. wide. It is a brownish colour with a lighter colour stomach. The wings are formed from skin that is stretched over the bat's fingers.

What it eats
The bat flutters out to catch insects as soon as the sun sets.
It eats beetles, flies, wasps, moths and lots of mosquitoes.

Babies
Bats are mammals. The babies are born live and drink their mothers' milk.

The female usually has one baby in May or June. The baby hangs on to its mother for a week or two even when she is flying about for insects.

After two weeks the mother hangs the baby up by its hind legs when she goes off to catch her meal. A mother can recognize her baby by its smell and its cry.

A young bat starts to fly and catch its own food when it is about three weeks old.

Adaptation
How can a bat fly at night? It sends out high squeaks that bounce back to it from things that are in its path. This is called echo-location.

The little brown bat can see very well even in daylight.

The bat has hooks on its hind legs to help hold it up while it hangs head down.

The little brown bat stores up fat and hibernates during the winter.

Bats are useful
Bats get rid of many insect pests. A bat can eat 600 or more mosquitoes in an hour.

Other interesting facts
The bat looks like a mouse but is not related to mice.
There are nearly a thousand species of bats around the world.

Bats do not get tangled in people's hair.
Canadian bats do not drink blood.
Bats are not bad.
Bats are not blind.
Bats are not dirty.




CANADIAN ANIMALS



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LINKS :
Echo the Bat - story| Echo the Bat - YouTube
Fun Facts - about bats
Bats, Bats, Everywhere bats4kids.org
Bats Why should you care?
Hinterland Who's Who - Little Brown Bat
Bats in Saskatchewan - Bob's Bat Cave
Bats of Alberta Little Brown Bat




J.Giannetta
1999, updated 2011
links checked January 2017

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