How Bats Live - By: David Bunch

Bats live together in caves or other dark places during the day. Just before dark, or before the sun rises,- they come out, and if you are near one of their caves at that time, the sky may be darkened by great clouds of them. A bat has huge wings for its size and is a wonderful flier. As it chases insects in the dark a bat twists and turns in the air better than almost any bird. It snaps up small flying insects in its mouth, but if it finds a big beetle, or other large insect, a bat may catch it between its wings for an instant and bite through its shell to kill it. Bats can fly great distances.

They have been found hundreds of miles out at sea. Bats cannot stand or walk well, because their knees bend backward instead of forward. They rest by hanging upside down from the roof of a cave or a barn or from a small branch of a tree. They hang by their big toes, which are very strong, and wrap their wings around their heads and bodies. Even very young bats can hang in this way. Baby bats are born once a year, usually in late spring. Most bats have only one baby at a time.

They build no nests, and the father bat has no interest in his young; the mother has to look after her baby all by herself. She carries it whereever she goes, clinging to her breast. The baby is quite helpless at first, but as it grows older the mother leaves it hanging up, and brings back insects for it to eat. After three or four weeks the baby bat is grown up and flies away on its own. Sometimes a baby bat falls down to the ground and squeaks for help. Then the older ones swoop down and try to pick it up. If they cannot do so, it will die. In caves which are lighted up for visitors the attendants often pick up hundreds of dead young bats.

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