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Bat Basics: Meet These Fascinating Flying Mammals
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Bats are the only mammals that can fly. They do this by flapping their smooth,skin-covered wings. They are also nocturnal animals, which means they do their flying at night. Daytime is spent sleeping while hanging upside down, roosting in caves, barns, and trees, and under bridges or roofs. |
| Like all mammals, bats are hairy warm-blooded creatures. They give birth to live young that drink their mother’s milk. A bat mother usually has one baby, called a kid, which clings to her with tiny claws. When the mother leaves the roost at night to find food, she leaves her kid hanging at home, finding him later through a scent only she can recognize. |
| There are almost 1,000 kinds of bats, ranging from the size of a bumblebee weighing less than a penny, to as big as an owl, with a six-foot wingspan. Some bat species dine on insects, others on fruit, pollen, or nectar, and some even feed on small frogs or fish. North America is home to about 40 kinds of bats, most of them insect-eaters the size of sparrows. |
| Because they are odd looking and nocturnal, bats tend to have a bad reputation as blood-sucking monsters, and many people even fear them. But there’s no reason to be afraid; bats are shy by nature—and most are harmless to humans. |
| Check out our Bat Anatomy page to see the unique features that enables bats to fly and feed upon their prey. Then test your knowledge of their prey in our Bat Grub Game; you'll be amazed at the variety of food they eat! |
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