Bat Basics

Bats are Extreme!
There are more than a thousand species of bats – about one-fifth of all mammal species – and their variety is incredible. They range from the world's smallest mammal, the tiny bumblebee bat that weighs less than a penny, to giant flying foxes with six-foot wingspans. Except for the most extreme desert and polar regions, bats have lived in almost every habitat on Earth since the age of the dinosaurs.  But today, they face many threats.  Learn more about the efforts of animal conservation for these vital members of the animal kingdom.

Bat Radar
Like the Zoo's Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, most bats communicate and navigate with high-frequency sounds. They hunt insects and avoid collisions at night by sending out "echolocation" beeps and analyzing the echoes that come bouncing back.   The large bats at the Zoo, however, are among those species with large eyes and good vision that are active during the day.
Photo by Jackie Curts

Don't Be Afraid!
Centuries of myths and misinformation about bats still generate fear in people.  But once you learn about bats, you also learn to appreciate how important they are to nature and to the world's economies.  Unfortunately, people who still fear bats can threaten them and their habitats around the world, and bat populations are declining almost everywhere. 

Bats are Good
In fact, without bats, nature could be in real trouble. They help control pests and are vital pollinators and seed-dispersers for countless plants. Yet these wonderfully diverse and beneficial creatures are among the least studied and most misunderstood of animals.

Batty Behavior
Bats are, for their size, the slowest reproducing mammals on earth. On average, mother bats rear only one young per year, and some do not give birth until they are two or more years old. Exceptionally long-lived, there is a record of a bat that survived in the wild for 41 years, and bats of a number of species live 15 to 20 years or more. Field mice, by contrast, rarely live beyond 3 to 4 years.

In seasonal climates like Indiana's, cold winters force bats to migrate or hibernate. Most travel less than 300 miles to find a suitable cave or abandoned mine, where they remain for up to six months or more, surviving on stored fat. However, several species travel from as far north as Canada to the Gulf Coast states or Mexico for the winter.

Photo by Kerrie Best