# bats! i love them!



## moswen

so i've always had a little fondness for bats, i really get irritated with people who think they'll eat you or give you rabies.... really if you're going to blab about something at least know the truth of what you're blabbing about... anywyas:

my husband just HAD to stop at this cave this weekend (i have some claustrophobia issues, and i really didn't want to go, but he wanted to go so bad! and i just want you all to know, no matter how many times you hold your breath squeezing through a tight space, there WILL be air on the other side! trust me, i just endured it!) and i found out the saddest informaiton on the planet! you remember the great bee demise? it's happening to bats now! there has been a huge wave of bats infected with this nasty white fungus that causes them to wake up during hibernation, and then the fungus irritates them so much that they can't go back into hibernation so they fly out of the cave looking for food (insects) and either starve to death or freeze to death. it's so sad! some cave up on the northern east coast has completely lost every bat colony it had. 

here are some great bat facts for those of you who don't know much about them:

-bats eat insects. this is good, unless you like mosquito bites.
-bats are very much like humans, they cluster in social colonies and some actually commit SUICIDE if left alone for extended periods of time
-vampire bats even adopt orphans, and they also keep a little bit of their food (blood) to take back to their "roosts" to share with other bats that were not fortunate enough to find food that night 
-vampire bats do NOT kill livestock, and they're NOT going to attatch to your jugular and suck you dry. vampire bats actually make a small cut on an animal, spray an anti-coagulation solution into the cut of the animal, and lap up the blood that flows out of the wound. they've never bled an animal dry.
-bats are very important mammals in every part of the planet (besides antarctica), they are NOT rare, they're just nocturnal! so you never see them!
-bats are very clean animals by nature, they're like cats when it comes to cleaning themselves. therefore, they're not even half as dirty as the pigeon that landed on your car this morning.
-bats are the only flying mammals
-bats only have one baby a year, called a "pup"
-bats are STINKIN' CUTE! (well, some are pretty stinkin' ugly. but some are precious!)

(i found these next ones online, my font of personal knowledge has ended)

-there are more than 1,100 species of bats in the world
-nearly 40% of american bat species are now listed as endangered or in severe decline
-the smallest bat is the bumblebee bat, only 2 inches long! it is native to thailand, and listed as critically endangered due to severe loss of habitat.
-the largest bat is a giant flying fox, it's wing span is 6 feet long. it is a fruit bat and native to thailand
-bats are grouped into 2 main categories: megabats and microbats. 
-megabats are the larger bats and they are the fruit eating bats
-most fruit-eating bats do not have echo-location
-microbats are generally much smaller, more world-wide, they eat 
insects and most fit in the palm of your hand.
-there are 7 endangered bat species native to the united states
-pregnant mommy bats move to warmer regions and form nursery roosts with a lot of other mommy bats
-some bat species can live for 40 years
-There are millions of Mexican free-tailed bats that live in BCI's Bracken Cave in Central Texas. these bats eat up to 200 tons of insects each summer night
-Worldwide crop damage from the corn earworm moth (a favorite meal for the mexican freetailed bat) is estimated at more than $1 billion a year, and recent research concluded that mexican freetail bats are so effective that they save farmers in south-central Texas up to $1.7 million a year in pesticide costs

loss of habitat is such a killer for every animal in the world today, and bat houses are such a great way to help keep these cute little guys around! you can buy bat houses online or you can build your own, there is a good website that can teach you what bats look for in a roost and how to build your own here: 

http://www.nwf.org/Get-Outside/Outd...ildlife/Gardening-Tips/Build-a-Bat-House.aspx

it also pitches you a good story about why you should build them. i'm going to build my own and wait until we move to the country and put them out! 

for those of us who want to grow organic food for our TORTOISES.... don't forget about what i said.... BATS EAT BUGS! i'm going to put a whole bunch all around my pumpkin patch.

if any of this post intrigued you and you want to learn more about these precious little mammals, this website is a good place to start:

http://www.batcon.org/

happy reading! protect the bats!!


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## Torty Mom

Very interesting, learn something new everyday!!! Thanks for sharing!!!


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## Becki

I totally agree with you and encourage everyone to get at least one bat house. Mark Marrone has a pet bat that he's had for 30 years. He believes it is the oldest bat in the US. Intriguing, no?


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## Bowser-the-Redfoot

You can buy one here in Japan for $100 bucks ... They are pretty cool!


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## moswen

Bowser-the-Redfoot said:


> You can buy one here in Japan for $100 bucks ... They are pretty cool!



you can buy a bat or a bat house for $100 in japan? i wish i could have a pet bat... i think i'm going to satiate my hunger for owning one by volunteering in bat rehabilitation and building a few bat houses. i really want to hold one and carry it around and bottle feed a baby bat! how CUTE would that be!!!???


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## Bowser-the-Redfoot

You can buy a Bat for 100 bucks lol.. I think they are fruit bats from south america but I'm not sure


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## terryo

That was some great information Rebekah, and very interesting. I love bats too. Sometimes we sit outside at night in the Summer, just to watch a cluster of bats at the end of our street. We still haven't found out where they go for the daylight hours. You can actually see them zapping all those mosquitoes.


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## Angi

Can a bat be a pet? Also how do you set up a bat house? Owl houses are popular here, but I haven't heard of a bat house. We have bats, but I don't know what kind.
That was great info, but sad I did not know the bat population was declining.


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## Tom

I love 'em too. One of the companies I work for had some for a few years. In the summer, me and my little girl sit and watch the bats together. She'll be quick to tell you that a single bat can eat 1000 mosquitos in one night.

I had not heard about this fungus. So sad.


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## Madkins007

A bat house is similar to a bird house, but there is no bottom and there are vertical internal divisions they can hold onto. Making them the right size and placing them correctly is important.

I love bats as well, even though there is an annoying colony in our house and every so often I have to catch one flying around inside with my homemade net. I'm getting good at it- I can catch a flying bat in about a minute now. I transfer it to a perforated plastic container and release it far away. (Used to use the Humane Society, but they were rather slow in response and only came if you KNEW where the at was.)

I'm trying to think if I can add to your list of information... 

- Some bats are also nectar eaters and pollinators. If you like bananas, mangos, or tequila, thank a bat!
- A fruit bat is Baquardi's logo, and they used to heavily support bat conservation
- Batman- need we say more?


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## ALDABRAMAN

Interesting.


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## moswen

Madkins007 said:


> - Batman- need we say more?



haha!!! oh i'm right there with you, even though christian baale supposedly has a terrible personality, i love him in batman. 


and as to the pollonator thing, i remember reading that too, and i also read some interesting information that stated bats are the #1 contributors to bringing back a deforested area, as birds are squeamish about flying in very open areas due to the fact that they may become prey to a larger bird, but bats are not, and they typically poo during flight (so if they are fruit bats their poo will contain little seeds) so they are who you can thank for new growth in de-forested areas!

i'm so obsessed with them right now i stayed up until 1am this morning reading every shred of information i could find on them. you can even adopt a bat, like you would adopt an animal at the zoo, and you can name it and pay for it's care and etc... i think that's going to go on my christmas wish list!!


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## harris

I have bat houses I put up throughout my backyard. I love laying on the deck on a Summer night watching them fly around from above. There was a lady I saw on Animal Planet a few years back that had a Flying Fox as a pet. That was waaaaayy cool.


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## DeanS

I also love bats...but here's a little reality! We've found 18 bats in the past six months that were rabies positive. They are the number one vector in CA (with the skunk close behind at number 2). I remember the LA Zoo displayed Vampires for about a year or so, but the blood (offered in Petri dishes) killed them off.


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## dmmj

Personally I don't really think they are cute, but I can't deny the impact they have on the insect population think of how many more bugs we would have without them? I like the idea of a bat house may try one sooner or later and see, I would love to be able to see them flying and eating bats. I would imagine bats are just as susceptible to rabies as any other animal, but that is no reason to hate on them. thanks for the info I did not know about fruit eating bats not having echo location though in hindsight it makes sense.


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## Isa

Thanks for sharing the info with us  I love bats, I think they are very cute!


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## GBtortoises

Bats are awesome! I think they're ugly, but still awesome! I enjoy sitting out on my back deck on a summer night watching them fly around and devour insects. With a big swamp across the road that supplies plenty of food for them you would think the show may never end. Unfortunately that may not be the case. Hundreds of thousands of bats in my area of New York State along with northern New Jersey, Pennsylvannia and other areas of the Northeast have become infected with a fungal disease known as "White nose syndrome". They come in contact with it while they hibernate in their caves during the winter. By springtime a majority of a colony can be found dead from the disease. Hundreds of thousands over the past few years have died. Not good, not good at all. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_nose_syndrome


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## moswen

yep that's what i heard about over the weekend. they don't actually die from the fungus though, the fungus wakes them up from hibernation and irritates them, then they can't get back into hibernation bc the fungus is so irritating, so then they fly out of their cave searching for food and either starve to death or freeze to death in the temperatures.


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## ChiKat

Bats are pretty awesome!

I'll have to dig up a picture I took of bats in Costa Rica, camouflaged on a tree. Pretty cool.


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## Madortoise

Love the bats, myself.
When I went to Louvre Museum, there were some old lithos of bat sketches that they mistakenly listed as some other animals. I pointed out to the person who worked there and the Frenchman promptly agreed and thanked me politely for the correction. Not sure if they labeled it correctly afterwards...bats are under-appreciated world-wide for sure.


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## tortoises101

VERY good info, Rebekah. I think I'm beginning to feel a tinge of obsession with these animals...


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## Edna

I don't hate bats, but would never tolerate them in my house. I watched a (PBS? Animal Planet?) show some years ago and one of the factoids I retained from it was that in the majority of cases when people die from rabies of an unknown source, it is bat rabies. That's enough for me to stay away from them. 

One of the program's points of advice was that people and bats should never inhabit the same buidings.


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## Kristina

I love bats too. When I was 18 I rented my first house, and I had this really cool attic bedroom. I could hear a clicking noise coming from the door jam one night, so I popped the trim off and there was this little bat. I ended up tacking some black cloth to the ceiling and he lived there. I left my bedroom window open and he would fly in and out at night. Definitely cool, especially for a Goth chick like me!


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## ChiKat

Here's a picture I took in Costa Rica. There are bats camouflaged on a tree- can you see them?!
(hint: they're in a clump towards the center of the tree trunk)







And I had a dream about a rabid bat the other night; pretty sure I have this thread to thank for that


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## moswen

oh that's amazing! they look like furry/mossy bumps all over the tree! it's kinda gross to look at acutally... but an amazing pic! lol, sorry for causing you a rabid bat dream... i'll try to make amends for you some how!


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## DeanS

I don't know of a whole lotta things that are as cute as baby vampires...


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## ChiKat

Eeee what an awesome picture!!!


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## Kristina

AWWWWW! How adorable is that?!?!


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## moswen

oooooohhh dean that is the cutest picture i've ever seen! how precious!


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## Jenilyn

i couldnt let this die without adding this.


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## Cherbear

Bats are great as long as they don't live with you! Are house had tons of bats in our attic when we moved in. Didn't know till we moved in. That was 17 years ago. Their feces ended up where I plant flowers and At some point, I developed histoplasmosis and now have perminent scars in my eyes. They were getting in a crack behind our chimney that was on the side of our house. We tore the chimney down which exposed the hole they were using. They would fly out at night and then we plugged the hole once they were out. Did that till they were all gone. Then had to bleach the attic and replace the insulation. It was a nightmare.

I do like the look of the one's in the last post though. A lot more cute than the ones we had.


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## DeanS

Jenilyn said:


> i couldnt let this die without adding this.



Is that you? Those shots are GREAT! Are they flying foxes or Indian fruit bats?


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## Jenilyn

no, dean not me. its so cute! it was on a website i frequent.


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## Fyreflye

Jenilyn said:


> no, dean not me. its so cute! it was on a website i frequent.



Is that in Australia? I remember reading an article a few years ago about baby bats that were orphaned in severe weather, and were being raised by rescuers. 

I have a fondness for bats, i think that they are adorable!


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## dmarcus

Bats are strange creatures to me, but I guess they are like most thing's and you can appreciate them once you get past all the myths they have attached to them.


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## Really_Great

aww I love bats! they are adorable! I dont understand why people are afraid of them since they dont bite humans
I watched some Animal planet show about bats and now I really wish I could adopt one!


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## DixieParadise

I live just north of Austin. If you are ever in the area, you might want to check this out. Kind of cool...Not Carlsbad Cavern, but pretty darn close.


About Congress Bridge Bats Austin

The Congress Avenue Bridge spans Town Lake in downtown Austin and is home to the largest urban bat colony in North America. The colony is estimated at 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats. Each night from mid-March to November, the bats emerge from under the bridge at dusk to blanket the sky as they head out to forage for food. This event has become one of the most spectacular and unusual tourist attractions in Texas. The most spectacular bat flights are during hot, dry August nights, when multiple columns of bats emerge. There are several points from which to view the event, and an information kiosk is located on the north bank of the river, just east of the bridge.

Bats Season is Mid-March to Early November

Three Cool Ways to View the Bats

1. Capital Cruises Bat Watching Tours
Capital Cruises Austin is home of the Largest Electric Paddle Wheel Boat in the Country and the now famous Sunset Bat Watching excursion. This tour fills up nearly every night during bat season some times a few days in advance. Use this link to Capital Cruises Bat Watching and Sightseeing Tours for more info. Prices are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, and $5 for kids. You need to arrive about 30 minutes before sunset for this one and buying tickets in advance is frequently required. This tour sells out almost every night during the summer, so we recommend you buy tickets in advance

2. Kayak Bat Watching Tours from Live Love Paddle
In the heat of the summer, watching the bats from a Live Love Paddle kayak tour is the way to go. Tours start at Joe's Crab Shack on Lady Bird Lake where you kayak up the lake to see the bats emerge. The minimum weight on bat-watching tours is 30 lbs and maximum weight is 275 lbs. Tours start just before dusk and times vary with the season. Prices are $38.50 per person and tandem boats are available. Rumor has it the view from the water of Austin's downtown skyline is almost as amazing as the bats themselves. These tours fill up, we highly recommend you make a reservation.

3. Bike Tour from Austin Bike Tours and Rentals
Another cool way to see the bats is from an Austin Bike Tours and Rentals bicycle tour. They mix in half day of downtown Austin activities. You get to choose from different activities that includes Frisbee golf at Pease Park, pitch and putt at Butler Park, a visit to Barton Springs Pool in Zilker Park, and some biking around Austin's Lady Bird Lake. Talk about a tour of Austin's great outdoor lifestyle! Then they finish up with some good old fashion sightseeing with a stop at the Congress Bridge Bats. You may want to buy tickets in advance as space is limited to the number of available bikes. Prices are just $35 per person and you can learn more by visiting the Austin Bike Tours and Rentals listing. 

Where to Eat while Visiting the Bats

1. Zax Restaurant and Bar
Zax is a casual, upscale restaurant and bar located just south of downtown that caters to a range of clientele. The ambiance of the dining room, with bright light, warm wood floors and vaulted wood ceiling, reminds one of a secluded lodge in the heart of the city. Zax caters to all dining styles - with quaint indoor seating areas, an outdoor patio, and a copper bar that seats up to 20. They're locally owned and operated. There is no direct bat viewing from the restaurant, but they do have free convenient customer parking about a block away from the bats. Remeber the bats emerge at dusk and you may want to book a reservation at Zax to make sure you time it right to work in viewing the bats.

2. Shoreline Grill
Located across from the bats main departure point, Shoreline Grill offers a good view of the bats departure. It is locally owned and operated and they don't serve anything from environmentally unfriendly fish farms or politically controversial sea zones which highlights a little of Austin's green personality. Shoreline is a very upscale establishment and their prices reflect the extra attention to detail. Most fish entrees cost between $20 and $30 a plate and steak entrees are a little more. They do have one of the best seafood menus in Austin. Here's a link to Online Reservations if you need it. 

Directions to Congress Bridge Bat Watching AustinCongress Avenue is one of 4 downtown bridges that connect downtown Austin to the South side of Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake). The bats are best viewed from the Southeast corner of the bridge. Parking is hard to find down here, hence why parking we suggest you catch a bite at Zax and park in their lot 

From Mopac: Head towards downtown and take the 1st and 5th street exit. Follow 1st Street past Lamar Blvd until you get to Congress Avenue. Turn right on Congress and the bats will be ahead on your left. 

From IH-35: Head downtown and exit Riverside Drive. Follow Riverside Drive East to Congress Avenue. The bats will be a block or two on your right.


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## CGKeith

Our State (AZ) game and fish dept. has an awesome poster of bats and a lots of info for using for teaching about bats that can be printed out. My wife teaches 4th grade and does a whole unit on bats with her kids, in October of course. 

Here's the link for that.

http://www.azgfd.gov/i_e/ee/resources/posters/bats_index.shtml


Here's a cool link to building bat houses.

http://www.batcon.org/index.php/get...plans&utm_source=external&utm_medium=redirect


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