Monday, April 2, 2012

Bats

Look at those faces! Bats, including these white-winged vampire bats, are the subject of many myths and misconceptions that unjustly give them a bad reputation. Here are a few facts about bats:

1. Despite the phrase blind as a bat, bats aren't blind at all. Many species do have small eyes, but they can see.

2. Bats are mammals belonging to the order Chiroptera, which means "hand-wing." They are not rodents.

3. Bats don't attack people. They see humans as predators and therefore avoid them.

4. Vampire bats don't suck blood. They do, however, bite a sleeping animal and then lick its blood. This doesn't harm the animal at all.

5. Some species are in danger of becoming extinct due to White Nose Syndrome, which causes white fungus to grow on their noses and wings during hibernation.

6. Bats are critical to ecosystems worldwide. Organizations such as Bat Conservation International, Bat World Sanctuary, and the Organization for Bat Conservation help bats all over the world.

Since I like bats, I enjoy pinning images of them on Pinterest. Whenever I see one, I have to repin it or at least "like" it so that I can pin it later.

I've also gone out and found a few good bat photos that I didn't see there. I have one of a baby bat that's absolutely adorable.

I probably pin most bat photos on my Nature's Beauty pinboard, but the baby bat was an obvious choice for Cute Animals.

Doing a search of Pinterest, I found that there are many images of bat cupcakes and crafts for Halloween.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Bats are amazing creatures. There's lots of bats where I live and just before sunset they fill the sky and it's an amazing view to see.

beccabooklover said...

I must admit that picture of them is so cute! A bat flew into my kitchen once, we were all so shocked but it just did a lap of the room and flew back out. Thanks for some interesting little facts :)

Anna (herding cats-burning soup) said...

Aws! We have a HUGE bat house on the campus back home. They've always kind of given me the willies. That picture though is just adorable and the baby pic! Arg. Too darn cute!

Anna@ Herding Cats & Burning Soup