Wild Facts

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Here we are at the start of another week of Wild Facts. Since it is Monday, I thought you may need some help getting your day start so I figured the Spectral Bat would be the perfect candidate to get you up out of your seat. This particular bat species is also known as False Vampire Bat, Linnaeus’s False Vampire Bat and the Spectral Vampire Bat. As you might expect from all the common names, the Spectral Bat is a carnivorous bat, however, it doesn’t feed strictly on blood. You can find the Spectral Bat anywhere between Mexico and Peru.

Do You Smell That?

The Spectral Bat is the largest carnivorous bat in the Western Hemisphere with a wingspan over 80 cm (2.6′) and a body length between 12.5 and 13.5 cm (4.9 – 5.3″). Unlike other bats, this carnivore prefers to use their keen sense of smell over their echolocation to track down their prey. The typical meal they smell out includes rodents, birds and even other bats. They Spectral Bat uses a methodical hunting method to slowly stalk their prey before swooping in and grabbing the unsuspecting victim by their head. It will then fly the latest meal back to their roost where they will begin feasting.

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Committed to the Family Life

When you think of bats, you typically think of them hanging upside down in a cave. The False Vampire Bat is slightly different as they prefer to roost in the hollows of trees. They will typically share these roosts with a long-term mate as well as family members, which is a rare behaviour in the bat world.  Just as rare is the fact that the Spectral Bat is one of the only bat species that show male parental care. Typically, at least one male (or older offspring) will remain in the roost with the youngest bat while the rest of their family goes out to forage. Having a stay at home dad obviously works of this species, which makes me wonder if other bats shouldn’t adopt this special parental technique.

Are You Threatening Me?!?

Unfortunately, the habitat this particular bat species depends on (i.e. lowland forests near swamps and rivers) is being destroyed by human civilization. As a result the Spectral Bat is listed as Near Threatened, and therefore needs to be monitored to ensure their population doesn’t dwindle. With any luck, we will leave some of their habitat alone so they can continue to flourish.

Is that a Moose? -- Click for Photo Source

After a week of playing in the ocean, flying with beautiful coloured birds and risking our lives with a carnivorous caterpillar, I thought we would end with an even more bizarre animal. You just need to take one look at the Hammer-Headed Bat to realize it will be a fun animal to learn more about. I mean, just look at their head! To catch a glimpse of this megabit, we need to take a quick trip to equatorial Africa where will will find them hanging out around rivers, mangrove swamps, and palm forests. Now let’s find out why their head is shaped like a hammer.

That is One Big Nose

Only the male Hammer-Headed Bat is blessed with such a large head, which they use to create incredibly loud honking noises. The large nose, larynx and lips allow the male bat create sounds that are extremely resonant. The females on the other hand have a head that is about 3 times smaller than their male counterparts. In fact, their head looks more like a regular ol’ fruit bat. It is funny how the males are always the ones that have to go out of their way to try and impress their female friends.

Image Credit: www.davidhiggins.net

Pick Me, Pick Me

Competition for female attention is quite fierce in the Hammer-Headed Bat population. Typically, males will all gather together in a group, which can contain as many as 130 individuals, At this point the female will fly over and assess the entire group of males. She will pick her favourite by landing on a branch next to the lucky winner. I guess it is kind of like picking baseball teams when you were a kid…..I feel bad for the last bat that never gets picked, but I guess that is life. He will just need to go back and work on getting an even larger nose for next year.

The Deadly Megabat

The Hammer-Headed Bat is the largest bat in Africa with a wingspan between 686 to 970 mm (2.3 – 3.2 feet). Typically, the males are larger than the females, which makes sense since they need to be able to carry that big head around all day. Although, it may be tempting to go up and pet this large, hammer-headed creature, iyou need to realize that this particular bat species is one of the 3 fruit bats in Africa that carry the Ebola virus, without showing any symptoms.  Not only are they huge but they can also be deadly!

Photo by Piotr Naskrecki, Conservation International

Welcome back to another exciting week of Wild Facts. This week we are going to take a look at some very unique animals starting with one that was recently discovered in 2009. There may not be too much information on the Tube Nosed Fruit Bat but we are going to do our best to learn everything we can about a species we didn’t know existed 3 years ago. That’s right, the Tube Nosed Fruit Bat was one of the 200 species identified during two scientific expeditions through the Nakanai and Muller mountain ranges in Papua New Guinea. Perhaps, we will discuss a few more of the animals identified during this trip throughout the week but first, let’s take a look at this bizarre looking bat.

Do I Look Like Yoda?

Some have compared the Tube Nosed Fruit Bat to the famous Star Wars character, Yoda. Since I have yet to see a Star Wars movie, I can’t really provide my opinion but let me know what you think. Either way, the Tube Nosed Fruit Bat is one odd looking creature. So what’s up with their nose? Like I had mentioned earlier, there isn’t a whole lot of information on this creature but it is believed that their bizarre nose acts like a snorkel. It may look weird but this nose allows the Tube Nosed Fruit Bat to breathe when its face is stuffed inside a scrumptious fruit. That is an interesting adaptation and I am sure it gives this bat an advantage when they play “Bobbing for Apples”.

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Adapting to Survive?

The Tube Nosed Fruit Bat is typically found in forested areas close to bodies of water, since everyone enjoys living on the water. Like other fruit bats, this particular species plays an important role as a seed disperser in the rainforest ecosystem. Unfortunately, these rainforest ecosystems are being destroyed as a result of human activity. Originally it was believed that this particular bat required high quality forests to survive, however, recent studies have shown them living in degraded habitats. They may not be thriving in these areas but it is great to know they are persisting since habitat destruction is one of the main reasons this bat is listed as endangered. If this species wants to continue living, they had better adapt to living in a degraded environment.

That does it for the first unique animal of the week. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Ong, P., Rosell-Ambal, G. & Tabaranza, B. & Heaney, L., Ingle, N., Cariño, A.B., Pangulatan, L.M., Pedregosa, M., Alcala, E. & Helgen, K. 2008. Nyctimene rabori. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 09 January 2012

Photo by Mnolf (Wikimedia)

After spending the first two days of the week chasing after frogs and salamanders, I thought we would mix it up by heading to the night skies to learn about the Common Pipistrelle. Yes, this is a type of bat! I know, I know…ewwww, bats! They may have a bad reputation but these little creatures are crucial for maintaining healthy ecosystems. This particular bat influences a particularly large ecosystem since they can be found across most of Europe, northern Africa and southwestern Asia. So pick a spot and lets wander into the night to find us a nice little bat.

Smallest European Bat

The Common Pipistrelle is the smallest of all the European bats with an average length between 3.5 – 4.5 cm (1.3 – 1.7″). These tiny mammals also have  a soft, furry, brown coloured coat. I don’t know about you but I personally think that if you are this small and furry then you should be classed as “Cute and Cuddly”. Don’t you agree? The reason the Common Pipistrelle has such a large home range lies with their generalist habitat selection. These common bats prefer woodlands and farms, however, they can be found living in houses, parks and marshes. Basically, they can live anywhere!

Baby - Photo by Mnolf (Wikimedia)

3000 Insects a NIGHT!

Like other bats the Common Pipistrelle leaves the comfort of their home at night to feast on a variety of insects such as moths, gnats and any other small bug they can get their mouth on. They usually hunt for a few hours before returning home, however, they have been known to hunt twice in a night. During the night, they will typically consume about 3000 insects. See, I told you they were important for the ecosystem. That is a lot of bugs! Think about this for a second – during a 30 day month, one Common Pipistrelle will eat about 90 000 insects. Now imagine what would happen if we didn’t have bats!

Common Pipistrelle Fast Fact

Although they are the most common European bat, the population of the Common Pipistrelle is on the decline (along with most other bats) as a result of the increased use of pesticides and the loss of roosting habitat. Basically, we are removing their food source and their homes. I would be pretty upset if I were them!

That does it for today’s Wild Fact. Thanks for stopping by and I will see you tomorrow for a brand new animal fact.

Little Brown Bat with WNS - Photo from Wikimedia

Today’s Wild Fact is going to be a little different than most of the other ones.  This is because I am going to focus on a very important issue that is threatening the existence of the Little Brown Bat.   This wonderful little bat is one of the most common bat species in North America……….or at least it use to be.  You may have heard about something called “White Nose Syndrome” which first started showing up in bats in 2006.  Well since then over 1 million bats have met their fate at the hands of this deadly fungus.  We will talk more about this in a minute.  First let’s take a closer look at the fuzzy Little Brown Bat.

As the name suggests these bats are obviously smaller and brown in colour.  Like most other bats the Little Brown Bat is an insectivore which heads out into the night sky to feed on pests such as mosquitoes, moths, wasps, beetles, mayflies among other insects.  Quite often when they find a nice big juicy bug flying through the air they will catch it using the tip of their wing then transfer to a cup formed by their tail.  Naturally, these civilized bats will use their cup-like tail to feed themselves.  Here you thought they just ate bugs directly with their mouth!  What?  You mean they do that too?  Oh, the Little Brown Bat will use their mouth for smaller insects.  That makes sense since it would probably be equivalent to me eating rice with chopsticks – I know it can be done but it is just a pain!

As mentioned earlier, the Little Brown Bat is in danger and may become endangered very soon as a result of White Nose Syndrome (WNS).  This condition is caused by a fungal growth that forms around the nose and wings of bat species.  Apparently this is a cold-loving fungus and as such begins to grow on the bats while they are hibernating in the deep, dark depths of their cave sanctuaries.  So how does this pesky fungus cause harm to our beloved bats?  Well, it disrupts the bats hibernation period (the technical term is torpor) causing the bat to wake up too early and eventually starve to death.  Not only is this an unpleasant way for millions of bats to die but there could be some huge implications to the ecosystem.

Photo from Wikimedia

For starters, bats play a major role in keeping our insect populations to a tolerable minimum.  This could have major implications in the business of agriculture.  Not too mention, you will be swatting at bugs all day long.  Bats are also an important pollinator and seed disperser.  Are you starting to see that it isn’t only the bats we have to be concerned about? Don’t get me wrong, we need to be concerned about the Little Brown Bat which is on the verge of rapid extinction.  The mortality rates associated with this fungus are incredibly high so if something isn’t figured out soon then it may be too late.

I know I am usually the one preaching that humans shouldn’t be playing mother nature but we need to at least figure out what has caused this sudden development of White Nose Syndrome.  We may be obligated to do something in order to prevent the extinction of a vitally important creature to our ecosystems.

If you would like to help out the Little Brown Bat then I would recommend listening to the authorities about not going caving in infected caves.  We are unsure how this fungus is transferred and it would be terrible if you are the person responsible for spreading this deadly fungus.  As well, you may want to look into putting up some bat boxes.  Every little bit helps, right?

I know this Wild Fact is a little longer than usual but I did want to raise your awareness about this very important issue that is hitting Northeast USA and Canada right now.  If we don’t figure out how it spreads or how to prevent it then it is possible that it will be in a cave near you very soon.

Enjoy the rest of your day folks!

Photo from Wikimedia

Thank you for joining me for another amazing week of Wild Facts.  We are going to start it off with a rather unique looking animal, the Horseshoe Bat.  We can find these peculiar bats in the temperate and tropical regions of Europe, Africa, Asia and even further south into northern and eastern Australia.  So pick a country, pack your bags and lets go find us some bats!  So? What country did you pick?  I chose to travel to Asia just to mix things up a bit but I hope at least one of you are going to come with me.  We can’t all go to Australia, you know.

The Horseshoe Bat gets their name from the horseshoe shaped, leaf-like structures protruding from their nose. Not only do these leaf-like structures make the bat even cuter and more cuddly then other bats but they also serve a very valuable purpose.  By now, we should all be aware that bats use echolocation to find their way (and food) at night.  Well the Horseshoe Bat uses these structures to emit their high pitched frequencies required for successful echolocation.  It is believed that these horseshoes allow the bat the ability to focus their sound better.  Hmmm… I wonder what happens if they have to sneeze?  I just picture a poor Horseshoe Bat trying to find his way around while he has a cold, cursing while blowing his nose as he flies into a tree.

Lesser Horseshoe Bat - Photo by F. C. Robiller (Wikimedia)

Like most other bats the Horsehoe bat is nocturnal, however, they tend to get a later start on the hunt then most other bats.  As well, they prefer to hunt about 6 m (20′) off the ground so hopefully they won’t be hitting your head as you are putting the garbage out at night. Again, like most bats the Horseshoe Bat is capable of plucking their insect prey out of mid-flight or while the insect sits on a twig or a leaf not realizing it is about to become dinner.  Interestingly enough some of the Horseshoe Bat species will actually sit quietly in a tree and grab the insects as they fly by.  It kind of reminds me of a frog  but with an ugly nose instead of long, sticky tongue.

The next time you are out and about in Horseshoe Bat territory make sure you keep an eye out for a colony.  That’s right, these bats will actually rest together.  These colonies range from 20 to 2000 individuals.  That is quite the range that might make predicting an exact number difficult.  The Wooly Horseshoe Bat likes to be different as they will usually roost in pairs.  Awww, isn’t that sweet.

Our little trip to learn about the Horsehoe Bat has come to an end.  Don’t cry, we will learn about another wickedly cool animal tomorrow.  Enjoy the rest of your day.

Source:

Horseshoe Bats: Rhinolophidae – Behavior And Reproduction