< >

                     Northwest Wildlife Online                       

Order Chiroptera: The Bats

Books About Bats

eBooks.com This is the widest collection of Nature and Wildlife ebooks that I have found on the net.  If you like science you'll LOVE this site.  Tremendous selection of other titles as well.    

  Birds  Mammals  Reptiles  Amphibians  Fish  Invertebrates  Library  NWWOL Online Store Home

Mission  Editor Bio  Site Map   Contact   Wildlife Park Links  Further Study  Wild Employment  Northwest Trek

Secretive, night loving bats - a mammalian success story.  Making up an estimated 20% of all mammal species, only rodents are more widespread in diversity.  From Alaskan tundra to Florida swamps bats have found a home.  Common as they are, though, few people have actually seen a wild bat.  Being a relatively small, dark colored creature of the night does tend to make an animal invisible to light loving humans.  Yet when bats are considered in light of their numbers, both in terms of species and individual animals, it's a wonder we don't run into them more often.

     As you lay in bed tonight think of the this - more than 17 species of bats are swirling around out there somewhere, and that's just Oregon and Washington.  As to how many thousands of individual animals this represents I cannot even guess.  To put this is perspective think of all the land mammals that populate the Northwest.  If you take away all the rodents fifty percent of all remaining species would be bats.

     The only mammal to have developed the ability for true flight, bats are relatively slow in the air.  Yet despite a design for slower speeds than feathered birds, the double layered skin composition of bat wings compensate by providing exceptional maneuverability.   The bat's echolocation ability is well known, but it is coupled with a lesser known talent - bats have good eyesight.  Maneuverability plus echolocation plus excellent night vision combine to produce an insect eating dynamo.  A description that fits all of our Northwestern bats.  It must be a good life, too.  Bats live from ten to twenty years.

     Our native Chiroptera are little guys.  The largest species, the Hoary Bat, has a total length of about 6 inches.  Our smallest bat (smallest in the country, too) is the two to three inch Western Pipistrelle, the rest of our bats are in the 3-4 inch range.  All are insect eaters although the Pallid Bat is thought to occasionally munch on small lizards.

    Family Molossidae, the Free-tailed bats, got their name thanks to a little, but very noticeable tail that extends beyond the hind legs.  Mainly inhabitants of tropical regions we have only one representative of the family in our area.  The Brazilian Free-tailed Bat lives in southwestern Oregon, but enormous populations of these guys are found in the caves of the southwest US.

    Family Vespertilionidae, the Evening Bats, are not so surprisingly named for their propensity to take flight during the evening hours.  Vesper is Latin for "evening" or "evening star."  I like the sound of that - Evening Star Bats.  But early morning hours are also preferred by many for their insect foraging.

     Observing bats is not as much of a challenge as you might guess.  Naturally, you have to be willing to go out after dark, but the show is well worth while.  Watching these little guys swoop and swirl as they grab flying insects is a delight.  One technique is to approach a pond or similar body of water right after dusk and wait.  Nearly impossible to see against a forested background they become more visible when silhouetted against the sky or water.  This same technique works for any open area.

Books About Bats

  Birds  Mammals  Reptiles  Amphibians  Fish  Invertebrates  Library  NWWOL Online Store Home

Mission  Editor Bio  Site Map   Contact   Wildlife Park Links  Further Study  Wild Employment  Northwest Trek