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What is a Bat?
Photo: G. Bradley |
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UK
Safari Tip:
To help you identify the different bats in Britain there's a fact-filled and
superbly
illustrated fold out chart in the Nature Shop - click
here
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• Bats are the only mammals which can truly fly.
• Bats have fur or hair and are warm blooded.
• Their babies are born live, and they
feed on their mothers milk.
• There are 16 different bat species in the U.K. and, because their numbers have diminished so much in recent
years, they all are protected by law.
• Bats are not flying mice. They are more closely related to humans than they are to mice.
• Bats do not routinely get tangled in people's hair
• Bats are not blind. They have quite good eyesight, and they can also see in total darkness by using echolocation
• None of the bats in Britain feed on blood. They all eat insects such as
moths, mosquitoes and midges
• The risk of catching the disease from a bat is extremely low.
• Bats belong to the mammalian order called 'Chiroptera', which means "hand-wing". The bones in a bat’s wing are just like those in the human arm and hand, except that the bat finger bones are greatly elongated and connected by a double membrane of skin to form the wing.
Bat skeleton showing the arm and elongated finger bones
Opened bat wing showing membrane connecting the bones |
Bat Identification Charts
Bat Calls on CD - Learn to Identify Different Species
Bat Detectors
UK Safari Bat Section
What is Echolocation?
What does a bat sound like?
What is a tragus?
Links to Bat Groups in Britain
Bat Conservation Trust national (UK) helpline: 0845 130 0228 (9am to 1pm, 2pm to 5:30pm Mon - Fri except Bank Holidays.
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