Bats

Golden Crowned Fruit Bat

• The smallest mammal is Thailand's bumble bee bat. It's the size of a jelly bean and weighs less than a dime.
• No, not one of the 900 kinds of bats is blind.
• How much blood does a real vampire bat need to get by? Maybe a tablespoonful a day. But it usually only gathers blood every three nights.
• Yes, "nights" ... those little beasts prefer to hunt on moonless nights.
• How does the vampire bat know where to bite? Its nose is heat-sensitive. It goes for warmth ... where most blood is closest to the surface.
• The sonar system of a bat in flight can pinpoint the whereabouts of a mosquito about 10-15 feet away.
• A mother bat gives birth upside down.
• Hibernating bats live 20 times longer than other mammals of the same weight.
• "Flying foxes" is the name of the largest bats, native to the South Pacific islands. Some have four-foot wingspans. They eat fruit mainly and because of that are NOT allowed in the U.S. — not even in zoos. If any got loose and multiplied here, they could wipe out our orchards.
• Since bats are terrestrial and light-boned, there are few fossilized remains.