Fact Tuesday: bats

Collette

By Collette on 10-Nov-09 11:24

It’s Fact Tuesday, where I ask colleagues to tell me their favourite science fact. Jennifer, our Environmental Programs Coordinator, amazed me with the fact that one in five species of mammal is a bat. One in five! Bats live in every area of the earth except for Antarctica, and there are over 1,100 kinds of bats. That's a lot of different kinds of bats!

We have two fruit bats that live here at the Science Centre all of the time, and in the winter we house Big Brown Bats that have been found by the public. These are the type of bats that live in Saskatchewan, and they hiberrnate in the winter until their food supply returns (this includes insects like mosquitoes). When they are disturbed and wake up during their winter sleep, they need support until spring when the insects return. And that's where we come in!

We have a partnership with the University of Regina called The Bat Rescue Mission. If you find a bat in the winter, call us at 791-7900. We will contact the U of R and they will pick up the bat and give emergency first aid. When they are sure the bat is doing fine (usually in a couple of days), the bat will be brought to the Science Centre to stay with us until spring when they can be safely released.

Big Brown Bat winter shelter

So, today I asked Jennifer for the fact of the day because it's Jennifer's last day at the Science Centre! She is moving on to a great new job and we are proud of her! But we will also miss her. Good luck Jennifer! And:

Stay curious,
Collette

 

 

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Showing comments 1 to 4 of 19 | Next | Last
Anonymous
Posts: 17
Comment
Re:
Reply #19 on : Wed August 17, 2011, 17:11:17
Hi BJ,

From what you described, it seems very likely that this bat is injured or very sick. Please, please, please be sure to use thick leather gloves if you touch the bat. It sounds like you found it during the day (which is unusual in the first place) and the fact that it didn't fly away when you approached it and actually allowed you to move it is also very unusual behaviour. Please be extremely careful! It is SO awesome that you're trying to help this animal, but there is the potential it could be ill, and you need to protect yourself as well.

I highly recommend that you call the U of R biology department (585-4255)and hopefully one of the students or staff with rabies vaccinations can check it out for you. Let us know what you find out!

Sheila Beaubien
Biology & Enviro Science Coordinator
BJ
Posts: 17
Comment
Re:
Reply #18 on : Wed August 10, 2011, 18:07:50
Is it possible for a bat to misjudge when flying and land in a pond? I just found one on a rock just above the water and it is not doing so well. I moved it to a safer location and am waiting to see if it will recover.
Anonymous
Posts: 17
Comment
Re:
Reply #17 on : Fri July 08, 2011, 15:17:03
In response to some questions we've had about removing bats from your home and preventing them from re-entering, I've found a video that is quite thorough in showing what you can do. The video is quite good and follows what I've been told by the U of R through our bat rescue program. Please note, however, that the demonstrator (though she may have rabies vaccinations) should have worn gloves in her demonstrations. They do say at the start to be sure to WEAR THICK GLOVES- this is a very important step!

http://www.batcon.org/index.php/bats-a-people/removing-a-bat.html

Sheila Beaubien
Biology & Environmental Science Coordinator
Saskatchewan Science Centre
Anonymous
Posts: 17
Comment
Re:
Reply #16 on : Fri July 08, 2011, 14:58:06
Hi Jessica,

Good questions! Yes, Little Brown Bats can be found in most of Saskatchewan, including Regina. They do eat mosquitos, but their diet also includes a wide variety of other insects as well. As far as whether they tend to eat more mosquitos than Big Browns, it's hard to say. I do know that both species eat a LOT of bugs, so that's good news for us!
As for attracting them to your yard, your best bet would likely be to either buy or construct a bat house. There are quite a few designs online - one that I really like can be found at:

http://hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=323&cid=43

Along with instructions for how to construct the house, it also talks about what the bats need for overwintering and hibernation.

I've also heard that there are people in the city who construct and sell bat houses. If building one yourself is too big a project for you, you might want to look into purchasing one.

Best of luck and thank you for caring about our little friends!

Sheila Beaubien
Biology & Environmental Science Coordinator
Saskatchewan Science Centre
Showing comments 1 to 4 of 19 | Next | Last

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