Bat Facts
There are a number of fascinating bat facts, some you no doubt know, while others may surprise you. There are also a few well established bat "facts" that are not facts at all, falling rather into the realms of folklore or urban legend. We'll touch on some of these as well.
The bat is found in most places in the world, except in the very hottest and very coldest spots, or on remote islands, beyond their range of flight. We may see an occasional bat on a warm summer evening, at times more than one, but it tends to be a seldom sight for most of us. We therefore may think that the world's bat population is not particularly large. In fact, nothing could be farther from the truth.
Look at some bat facts addressing habitat and population. You may be surprised to learn that there are over one thousand bat species world wide. Bats often live in clusters numbering into the thousands. You may discover several hundred in a barn or attic, more under a bridge, which seems to be a favorite haunt to many species, and still more in caves. Others just hang out, literally, in trees. The famous Bracken caves in Texas is home to at least 20 million bats. In many places, Texas being one, people come out in the evenings, drive to a certain location, and watch as thousands of bats emerge for their nightly feeding.
The bat is a pretty good character, in spite of some myths suggesting otherwise. A single bat can eat several hundred insects, including mosquitoes, in an hour. Imagine what the bats of Bracken caves could consume! Besides clearing an area of insect pests, bats eat worms and grubs, which can cause significant damage to crops. Certain species eat ripe fruit; still others fish for a living, catching small fish in their claws. Other bats prefer nectar, and as a result pollinate plants. Vampire bats really do exist, mostly drinking the blood of birds, though there are vampire bats that drink the blood of cows and other larger mammals. There are very possibly vampire bats in the Transylvania region of Hungary and Romania, but not like the ones you've seen in the movies. Vampire bat saliva in fact, contains an ingredient beneficial to heart patients.
Some bat facts are not facts at all, although if you hear them enough you tend to start believing what you hear. Because of their rather erratic flight patterns, and the known fact that they rely on echolocation, many assume bats don't see well, or are "blind as a bat". In fact, bats have excellent vision. For that reason alone, bats will not get tangled up in your hair. That must have happened to someone at one time, but bats fly too well, see too well, and are too smart, to do a dumb thing like that. The "fact" that all bats carry rabies isn't true either. A very tiny percentage probably do, but the same can be said for most any wild animal.
Finally, we tend to think that bats are really flying mice. The title of a Strauss opera, "Die Fledermaus", probably lends some credence to that. Bats in fact are more closely related to us than to mice. Read a few bat facts, the true ones, and you'll no doubt come to appreciate the benefits we get from these fascinating creatures. They are not to be feared, but rather to be protected. If you own a small plot of land, consider building a bat house, and hope that bats, and not some other squatters, take up residence.