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Bat Grub Game
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| Most North American bats are insect-eaters. But some bats only eat fruit or drink flower nectar. Others catch frogs or fish. Each bat species is adapted with “tools”—physical features and behaviors—to help with the job of getting food in a particular habitat. Can you match each of these bats with what they eat? Download and print this page, then choose one of the foods above and finish the sentence for each bat. View the correct answers here. |
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Flying foxes eat _________________________.
The world’s largest bats are fruit-eaters. They have large eyes and a good sense of smell to help them find food even in the dark. While flying around snacking on fruit, they spread seeds that sprout into new trees. |
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Vampire bats eat _________________________.
This small bat attacks prey as big as horses! While its prey is sleeping, the bat lands nearby. Creeping slowly on sturdy legs and thumbs, the bat approaches its prey. Then it uses its razor-like teeth to make a small cut. Chemicals in its spit keep the blood flowing as the bat laps up its meal.
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Leaf-nosed bats eat _________________________.
Many bats have weird-looking folds and flaps of skin on their faces, called nose leaves. These bats use echolocation to find insects in the dark. The nose leaves focus the bat’s chirping sounds, like cupping your hands around your mouth when you shout. Insect-eating bats help control bugs wherever they hunt.
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Long-nosed bats eat _________________________.
This desert bat flies around late at night searching for night-blooming cactus flowers. Once it finds an open blossom, it shoves its long snout down into the flower and drinks the nectar inside. Its tongue is as long as its body! Pollen hitches a ride on the bat’s head, pollinating the next flower it visits and helping to create seeds and new cacti. |
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Bulldog bats eat ________________________.
This bat flies over ponds and rivers in a zigzag pattern while making echolocation chirps toward the water below. Once it detects a ripple in the water, the bat uses its long back legs with sharp, curved claws to spear its prey. Any splashed water runs right off its oily fur. |
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Pallid bats eat _________________________.
This beige bat doesn’t catch prey in the air. Instead it flies low while listening for bugs. When its huge ears hear shuffling cricket or beetle feet, this bat swoops down to nab its prey off the ground. The bat even hunts a certain critter known for its poisonous sting because the sting doesn’t hurt the bat!
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