April is also the best time of the year to observe bats, as they are now beginning to emerge from hibernation. The observance is an excellent time to learn about the role bats play in nature.
Since bats are considered to be an “insectivorous” creature, they rid our world of many annoying insects. In one hour, a bat can eat up to one thousand mosquitoes!
Fun Bat Facts:
• Some species of bats live up to forty years.- • Bats can see in the dark and use their extreme sense of hearing.
- • They also use echolocation to find food.
- • A bat’s ability to fly makes them unique. In the mammal world, only bats are naturally capable of true and sustained flight.
- • There are over 1,200 known species of bats!
- • An estimated 48 species of bats make their home in the United States.
- • Nearly seventy percent of bats are insectivores.
- • Bats grow in a variety of sizes. One of the largest bats is the Giant Golden-Crowned Flying Fox bat weighing up to four pounds with a wingspan of up to five feet, seven inches.
- • Bats are also clean animals, grooming themselves almost constantly.
- • North America’s largest urban bat colony is found on the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas. An estimated 1,500,000 Mexican Free-Tailed bats live there! This colony of bats eats approximately 10,000 to 30,000 lbs of insects each night. An estimated 100,000 tourists visit the bridge annually to watch the bats leave the roost at twilight.
- • One colony of one hundred and fifty Big Brown bats protects farmers from up to thirty-three million or more rootworms each summer.
- • Almost forty percent of American bat species are in severe decline, with some already listed as endangered or threatened.
- • Three U.S. states have an official state bat. Texas and Oklahoma named the Mexican Free-Tailed bat their state bat, and Virginia dubbed the Virginia Big-Eared bat their state bat.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Learn more about bats. Read about them or watch a bat documentary. Share your experiences with bats as well! Use #BatAppreciationDay to post on social media.
Educators, visit the National Day Calendar® Classroom for more resources to help you #CelebrateEveryDay! Also, download and print the coloring sheet for this day by visiting the website below:
HISTORY
Bat Conservation International (BCI) started and supports International Bat Appreciation Day. The BCI mission is to conserve the world’s bats and their ecosystems to ensure a healthy planet.
How can you observe this batty holiday?
#BatAppreciationDay
@BatCon
@burkemuseum
@burkemuseum
@nichecinema
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