Some people consider bats to be a scary creature, while others think they are wonderful animals.
The Spanish site "Super Corioso" (supercurioso) said in a report that bats represent 20 percent of the mammal species on the planet, given the presence of more than 1100 species of them.
Bats are the only mammals that can fly, and they are widespread on every continent of the world except Antarctica.
Here are 16 interesting facts about bats:
1- Bats are nocturnal animals that can see in the dark, but they do not use their small eyes, but rather determine their location by echo by the sounds they make.
Through this bouncing echo, the bats know where to fly.
If there is no echo, it can proceed because that means that there are no obstacles in its path, and if there is an echo, it can determine its distance from various objects by the speed of the bounce of sound waves.
2- The usual food for most bats is insects, but some species feed on fruits and fish and others feed on blood.
3- There are only 3 species of bats that feed on blood, known as vampire bats. They live in tropical regions of America, and are characterized by small, very sharp teeth that penetrate the skin of animals.
The danger of these bats is not the amount of blood they can lick, but rather that they are a possible carrier of rabies.
4- Some bats live alone, but they generally tend to live in large colonies in caves, the largest of which is located in "Bracken Cave" (Bracken) near San Antonio in Texas in the United States of America.
It is believed to be composed of more than 20 million bats.
5- Bats live in nature up to 20 years, and some species such as brown bats can reach 30 years, which distinguishes them from the rest of the more common small mammals such as rats or mice that live a little more than two years on average.
6- The largest bat at the age of 41 years, was found in Siberia in 2005, and was wearing a strap for identification, which was attached to it in 1964.
7- The bats are of various sizes, the smallest being the bumblebee bat, whose size ranges between 29 and 33 millimeters and weighs about two grams, and the largest of them is the Philippine flying fox bat, which has a wingspan of 1.5 meters and weighs about 1.2 kilograms, and its colors vary: black, brown, gray, yellow or red.
8- Bats are insect eaters, but they are also able to swallow young bats and up to 3,000 small insects in one night.
In Bracken Cave, it is estimated that these bats that live there can eat 200 tons of insects a night.
9- Bats give birth once a year.
10- Bats live in large colonies, where they warm each other, in a way that helps them save energy, and they also maintain their body temperature individually by wrapping their wings around their body.
11- Bats that feed on blood secrete an anticoagulant in their saliva, which has been studied by scientists in many countries to treat heart patients and slow the effects of strokes in humans.
12- Recent research has found that the speed of some types of bats can reach 150 kilometers per hour.
13- There are a small number of predators that feed on bats, such as owls, falcons and snakes, but disease is the most common cause of death among bats.
The worst that bats can experience is "white nose syndrome", in which mold covers their wings and nose during hibernation, and because of this disease, millions of bats die every year.
14- Bats are very clean animals like cats, and they spend a lot of time caring for themselves, as they clean their fur, especially their ears.
15- The number of bats is declining due to deforestation, pollution, and the industry that has destroyed many of their habitats.
16- Bats sleep upside down for various reasons.
Firstly, this is due to the size of their wings, which prevents them from sleeping naturally, and secondly, these organisms do not have any protection against predators, so they hang in places difficult to reach.