LITTLE BROWN

                BATS

and ECHOLOCATION

2 years ago, I was sitting on the balcony, watching as little brown bats fly by. It was pretty warm, so I hoped to see quite a few! In a few moments, I was thinking deeply ( on what, I dont remember! ). anyway, after a minute or two, I was broken out of my reverie by HIGH-pitched squeeks. I jumped, and turned. about a couple feet away, I saw a bat flapping TOWARD ME! the bat made a perfect turn and flew to the right, so close, I could hear the gentle flutter of wings, and the squeeks. I could see the shining eyes as it soared toward a moth. I held my breath. would it miss? it was SO interesting! it caught the moth, that I later found out was a northern sphinx.

HOW did it miss me so perfect? only a few moments, and it would have collided with me! and, how did it  manage to catch that moth, who was zigging everywhere?

 it was called echolocation. that bat was sending out squeeks as ECHOLOCATION. the squeeks hit my head. my head sent back echos. But, HOW did the bat know I was not a bug?  When the bat's squeeks hit the MOTH it dove to catch it! how did it know it was not another bat?? When the bat's echos hit my head, my head sent back an echo. My head sent an echo SO DIFFERENT from an insect's "back-talk". the moth sent echos too, but they were different than another bat would. the little brown bat's echo only travels 10 feet away from the bat then dies out, so the bat has to send out squeeks every second.

 bat's can be up to 8 feet from wing-tip to wing-tip, to a puny 2 inches in wing-span. the largest are africa's fling foxes. they are 4 feet tall. the smallest bat award goes to central america's bumblebee bat, only 3/4 of an inch tall! they are very tiny and not hard to miss!

 the little brown bats are a comman thin in eastern USA. they are the most-known bat to roost in bat houses.

 bats can eat up to half of their weight in mosquitos and moths. that is QUITE alot! the chinese symbol, WUFU is five bats circleing the tree of life:they represent: health, wealth, longlife, happiness, and good luck.