Batty About Bats!

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Hello everybody,
May 18th is Bat Day! A great day of celebrations in honour of this flying mammal.
A brief info. session on them:
   These amazing nocturnal "creatures of the night" are world wide inhabitants that are often mistaken as being "flying rats/ rodents"; but they are not directly related.
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Bats are truly unique animals! 
Quoting Wikipedia here "their closest living genetic relatives are thought to be carnivorans, certain hoofed animals, such as alpacas and hippopotamuses, and sea mammals, such as dolphins." Researchers have found they date back to 52.5 million years ago, and with 1,240 (approx.) species of bats classify as 20%/ almost a fourth of all mammal species world wide!
    Their reproduction is very interesting. As they tend to control the pregnancy timing (for when food is more readily available), have only one offspring at a time, and nurse them until the wings are fully developed. By this time, the young bat is almost a full sized adult.
   They have forelimbs that form webbed wings, which enables them to be the ONLY true sustained flight mammal! The finger bones that span throughout them are more flexible than other mammals, and their wings are thinner than birds - enabling quicker & more accurate movements.
   While most eat insects (3/4 of all bats) and fruit, there are a few that feed on animals. Those that eat insects help reduce the need for pesticides, and those that eat fruit help pollination/ seed spreading!
   When it comes to animal feeding bats, it's a whole new "ball park". They eat vertebrates and blood! Among them is the "Vampire" bats. These are the only parasitic mammalian species! Due to this, a few general facts of bats, and misinformation there has been myths associated and needless fears generated. Bats have been "incorporated" into the Gothic culture, with the well known character we know today as Dracula. Quoting Bat Conservation International (BCI) "Only three species, all in Latin America, are vampires. They really do feed on blood, although they lap it like kittens rather than sucking it up as horror movies suggest. Even the vampires are useful: an enzyme in their saliva is among the most potent blood-clot dissolvers known and is used to treat human stroke victims."

The largest known bat: The Golden-Crowned Flying fox
Known size: 13.32-13.5 inches long with a wing span of 4 ft 10 inches-5 ft 7 inches! That's from just under 5 feet to almost 6 ft!!! We all know people that are about that tall. (^^^)
Weight: 1.5–2.6 lbs (0.7–1.2 kg)
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The smallest known bat: Kitti's hog-nosed bat
Known size: 1.1 to 1.3 inches long with a wing span of 5.91 inches. A far cry from the largest!
Weight: 0.07–0.09 oz (2-2.6 g)

  And although I do LOVE bats, they are to be left alone! If ever we are exposed to them, caution MUST be taken. Why? Because they can carry rabies and other diseases! Their bites/ scratches are very small and may not be seen. Please see the Health Canada link below.

Batty about bats? YES I am!
There is so much more I could say,
but time has run out for me today.
Until next time...
Get batty once in a while! Silly/ harmless behaviour/ a.k.a. "trouble" can be healthy!
Sincerely,
Chris S.

For more information on bats, and bat activities check out my findings/ resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Golden-crowned_Flying_Fox
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitti%27s_hog-nosed_bat
http://www.rom.on.ca/media/podcasts/display.php?id=100
http://www.batcon.org/index.php/all-about-bats/intro-to-bats.html
Health Canada:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/pubs/pest/_pnotes/bat-chauvesouris/index-eng.php
BONUS
Fun bat facts & activities!!!
http://www.kidzone.ws/animals/bats/index.htm 

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Otherwise... In the news:
http://weeklyworldnews.com/headlines/47061/worlds-largest-bat-cave/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_nose_syndrome
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/05/03/nb-bat-population-disappearing.html
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/05/07/pei-bats-white-nose-584.html?cmp=rss
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=night-stalker-white-nose
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Skeptic about this one: http://outravel.blogspot.ca/2012/04/largest-bat-with-face-of-human-palawan.html
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For more information on parasitic species/ an interesting perspective:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasitism
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Parasitic_species
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_parasites
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_parasites_of_humans
PLUS:
Debates of humans being a parasitic species:
http://www.debate.org/debates/Humankind-is-a-parasitic-species/1/
http://forums.philosophyforums.com/threads/is-the-human-race-a-parasite-38147.html
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RE: the need for sleep & parasites:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090108194405.htm 
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Wanting fund raisers to contribute to this, and possible others (pending...):
http://cwf-fcf.org/en/do-something/challenges-projects/help-the-bats/ 
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Thankz for reading!
Flapping on...
Chris S./ C.E.S. (*@^@*)
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