Bats hibernate in winter. How and where do bats hibernate

Bats are amazing mammals that have mastered the art of flight - they are found everywhere except in the polar regions and highlands.

It is known that bats live on Earth for almost 50 million years. Scientists have found a nearly complete skeleton of an ancestral bat known as Icaronicteris and dated the find to the Eocene period. These creatures, 8 cm long, practically do not differ from modern bats, so zoologists have not been able to come to a final conclusion about their origin and, in particular, where they developed the ability to fly. However, bats are believed to have evolved from tree-dwelling insectivores.

The appearance of bats

Despite the fact that bats are very different from each other in size and appearance, everything shows that they are bats and nothing else. The body of the bat is covered with fur, which always has a lighter shade on the abdomen. The wingspan varies from 15 cm to almost 2 m, and what forms these arms-wings take! However, even though they are long and narrow, even if they are short and wide, the wings of bats always have the same structure.

The forelimbs of the bat are very well developed; her short shoulders are strong, and her very long forearm is formed by just one radius. Thumb the forelimb ends with a hooked claw, and the other (very long) fingers support the membranes of the wings located on the sides. The shape of the body and the length of the tail depend on the individual belonging to a particular species. A bony outgrowth called a spur helps many species to spread their wings all the way to the tail.

Bats fly using membranous wings that move in sync with their hind limbs. The wings, the membranes of which are a double layer of skin, are equipped with muscles and elastic veins, at rest, tightly pressing them to the body.

habits

Although bats are divided into many species and live in various natural conditions their habits are remarkably similar. Almost all are nocturnal, and during the day they sleep, hanging upside down. Bats don't make nests.

Most bats live in groups; solitary lifestyle is inherent in only a few species.

In winter, mice settle for hibernation in secluded places, and in the warm season they hide to mate and feed their young. Bats most often live in caves, abandoned mines, crevices, and tree hollows. They also like old houses very much. Large fruit-eating bats like to hang from tree branches.

During rest, the mouse thoroughly cares for its appearance and carefully cleans its wings, chest, and abdomen.

The mobility of mice when they are not flying depends on the species: some are almost helpless and miserable in their attempts to move, while others, having folded their wings, climb well and can even jump, and some species like to sway, groping for a comfortable place with their claws.

Winter hibernation in bats

In zones temperate climate with the onset of cold weather, it is increasingly difficult for bats to find food. Therefore, some species fly to warmer climes, but the bulk lies (or rather, hangs) in hibernation.

Bats hibernate in places where no one will disturb them, where there are no drafts, where you can firmly cling, and there is where to hide, where the temperature does not fall below zero and the air is sufficiently humid.

In autumn, bats constantly eat, storing fat for the winter, and sleep in October or November, depending on temperature, food availability and species characteristics. Mice gather in groups and sleep, hanging upside down and covering their wings.

Bat food

Almost all bats are insectivorous, but each has its own preferences: some love midges and butterflies, some love bugs and spiders, some catch dragonflies, and some feast on tree larvae.

Most often, bats grab prey on the fly, overtaking insects in the air. Some species have learned to work with wings like a net or like blades, raking up insects closer to the horn opening, and some fold their tail membrane and, like a net, catch their prey with it or put it there. hunting trophies. They also eat on the fly, although some species that lead a more measured lifestyle, after hunting, settle down for a thorough meal in a chosen place.

in the tropics

Fruit bats (flying dogs, spear-nosed and flying foxes) belong to tropical species. Unlike bats, they reach relatively large sizes. The largest of the fruit bats are flying foxes. The ability to echolocation has been established only in flying dogs. Many species lack a tail. The eyes are well developed, vision is sharp, and almost all fruit bats of the herbivorous type have teeth. Tropical bat species feed on fruits, which is not surprising, since fruits ripen all year round in hot and humid climates. They eat both greens and insects found in the same fruits. In Eurasia, the main lover of fruits is the flying fox, and in the New World, the spear-nosed.

These types of bats also feed on pollen and nectar, which contribute to the reproduction of a number of plants. Flower-eating mice are most commonly found in the tropics and have a long, narrow head and a long tongue to make it easier to drink from a flower cup.

carnivorous bats

There are few carnivorous bat species; they have large and sharp teeth, and their food is mice and other four-legged fry, as well as small birds.

There are even two types of bats in nature that feed on fish. Their large powerful hind limbs are equipped with incredibly sharp claws, which, when a mouse slides over the water surface, pierce the fish like a spear. A flying fisherman can handle prey up to 8 cm long; caught, the fish goes straight into the predator's mouth. Three species of blood-sucking bats inhabit the American continent - from Mexico in the north to Argentina in the south. Having made an incision on the skin of the victim with sharp incisors, they fall to the wound and suck the blood out of it. The saliva of bloodsuckers contains a special substance that prevents blood clotting, but usually the amount of sucked blood is not dangerous for the victim of a vampire bat. However, there is always a risk of infection of the wound: bats are known to carry rabies pathogens.

Own land

Most bats have their own territories where they hunt, often flying the same route.

Echolocation ability

Of all bats, only flying foxes have eyes that can see anything in the dark; at the same time, all bats hunt perfectly at night. Their well-developed sense of smell, hearing and the ability to echolocation help them find prey - an amazing and perfect gift of nature.

Simply put, the bat acts like a radar. With her nose or mouth, she makes sounds inaudible to humans in the ultrasonic frequency range. These are short pulses with a frequency of 20-120 kilohertz and a duration of 0.2 to 100 milliseconds, which differ greatly in their parameters among representatives of different families. Their waves, reflected from objects, return like an echo. Catching such signals, the bat orients itself in space and determines the size, location and density of the objects surrounding it.

This device is so perfect that some bats "see" wires with a diameter of less than 1 mm, and fishing mice - ripples raised by fish on the water.

Reproduction in bats

Almost all species of bats produce offspring once a year. Most have only one baby, certain types- two each, and the hairy tail - a brown bat (the only bat with 4 nipples) living in southern Canada and Central America - gives birth to three or even four cubs at a time.

In the tropics, bats give birth at any time of the year, and in temperate climatic zones Mating takes place in autumn or winter period for the babies to be born in the spring.

Both male and female bats middle lane do not form pairs and often change partners. Sometimes the offspring is conceived in the winter hut: the male begins to fidget, creeps up to the nearest female and mates with her through a dream.

Correct calculation

In males, sperm is formed in the summer and, having already entered the body of a female, remains viable for up to 7 months (this is no longer observed in any of the mammals). As a consequence, fertilization in bats does not occur until the most favorable moment for the birth of offspring.

In some species of bats, the egg is fertilized immediately after mating, but enters the uterus some time later. The maturation of the fetus (the period from conception to birth) takes from 1.5 to 10 months in different species, depending on the time of mating. Waking up from a winter sleep, the male immediately looks for a female, and soon the females (sometimes in thousands) gather in colonies to produce and feed the cubs.

The birth of babies in bats

Bats usually give birth during the day. While giving birth, the female sometimes hangs with her head down, but more often she is attached to the upper or side surface of the shelter with her head up. Having been born (and feet first, which is no longer observed in any of the mammals), the mouse falls into the mother's tail membrane folded in a bag.

The female licks the blind and hairless cub, and at this time he squeaks thinly, and by this squeak the mother will be able to recognize him among thousands of other mice. Interestingly, practically helpless baby bats at birth weigh half the weight of their mother.

From the moment of birth, the cub feeds on mother's milk; feeding time depends on the type of bat. The longest - as much as 9 months - is fed by the offspring of a vampire bat.

Caring for offspring

Insectivorous mice leave their offspring in the colony and fly away to hunt. Returning, they easily manage to find their baby in a huge swarming heap.

In case of danger, the mother flies away, taking with her the baby, who asked the price of milk teeth to the nipple, and legs and fingers of the forelimbs to her fur.

Babies develop very quickly; their eyes open on the 3-10th day, and the coat grows from the first week. Soon they mince and climb, and make their first flight in 3-5 weeks - in different species in different ways. For example, large flying foxes cannot take off until 3 months.

Mothers teach their children to fly and hunt. The cub is considered mature at the age of 4 months, although the coat has not yet fully grown. Full maturity will come only after 2 years.

Bats live from 5 to 10 years, sometimes reaching 20. They fly quite long distances - sometimes they have to cover up to 50 km per day.

A bat is an animal that belongs to the class of mammals, order bats, suborder bats (lat. Microchiroptera).

Bats got their name not because they are relatives belonging to the order of rodents, but most likely due to their small size and the sounds they make, similar to a mouse squeak.

Bat - description, structure. What does a bat look like?

Chiroptera are the only mammals on Earth that can fly. Often this entire detachment is mistakenly called bats, but in fact it is not. The order of bats includes the family of fruit bats (lat. Pteropodidae), which does not belong to the suborder of bats (lat. Microchiroptera). Fruit bats, often called flying dogs, flying foxes, fruit bats, differ from bats in their structure, habits and abilities.

Bats are small mammals. The smallest representative of the suborder is the pig-nosed bat (lat. Craseonycteris thonglongyai). Its weight is 1.7-2.0 g, body length varies from 2.9 to 3.3 cm, and the wingspan reaches 16 cm. This is one of the smallest animals in the world. One of the largest bats is a giant false vampire (lat. Vampyrum spectrum), which has a wingspan of up to 70-75 cm, a wing width of 15-16 cm and a weight of 150-200 g.

The structure of the skull in different species of bats is different, as well as the structure and number of teeth. Both depend on the nutrition of the species. For example, in the nectar-eating anuran long-tongued leaf-beetle (lat. Glossophaga soricina), the front of the skull is elongated to accommodate its long tongue, with which it gets food. Bats, like other mammals, have a heterodont dental system, including incisors, canines, premolars and molars. Individuals that eat insects with thick chitinous coatings have larger teeth and longer fangs than those that eat soft-shelled insects. Small insectivorous bats can have up to 38 small teeth, while vampires have only 20. Vampires do not require many teeth, since they do not need to chew food, but their fangs, designed to make a bleeding wound on the victim's body, are razor-sharp. In fruit-eating bats, the upper and lower cheek teeth resemble mortars and pestles in which fruits are crushed.

Many bats have large ears, such as the brown earflap (lat. Plecotus auritus), and bizarre nasal outgrowths, like horseshoe bats. These features affect the echolocation abilities of the bat.

In the course of evolution, the forelimbs of bats were transformed into wings. The humerus shortened, and the fingers lengthened, they serve as the frame of the wing. The first finger with a claw is free. With its help, animals move in a shelter and manipulate food. In some species, for example, in smoky bats (lat. Furipteridae), the first finger is non-functional. The second, third and fourth fingers strengthen the part of the wing between the first and fifth and form the interdigital membrane, or apex of the wing. The fifth finger is extended to the entire width of the wing. The humerus and shorter radius support the trunk membrane, or base of the wing, which acts as a load-bearing surface. The speed of a bat depends on the shape of its wings. They can be highly elongated or slightly elongated. By the shape of the wing, one can judge the lifestyle of a bat. Wings with a small aspect ratio do not allow to develop high speed, but make it possible to maneuver well among tree crowns. Highly elongated wings are designed for high-speed flight in open space.

Bats of small and medium size fly at a speed of 11 to 54 km/h while searching for prey. The fastest flying animal is the Brazilian folded lip (lat. Tadarida brasiliensis) from the genus of bulldog bats, which can reach speeds of up to 160 km / h.

Taken from: www.steveparish-natureconnect.com.au

The hind limbs of bats, unlike other mammals, are turned to the sides with the knee joints back. Animals hang on them in shelters with the help of well-developed claws. Some species are able to move on all four limbs. For example, an ordinary vampire (lat. Desmodus rotundus) during a hunt, landing on the body of the victim or next to it, is selected on foot to the place where he bites.

Bats have tails of various lengths:

• partially enclosed in the interfemoral membrane, with a free tip located on top of it, like in sac-wings (lat. Emballonuridae);
• completely enclosed in the interfemoral membrane, like in myotis (lat. Myotis);
• protruding beyond the interfemoral membrane, as in folded lips (lat. Molossidae);
• long free tail, like a mousetail (lat.Rhinopoma).

The body, and sometimes the limbs of mammals are covered with hair. The coat of a bat can be flat or shaggy, short or longer, sparse or thick. The coloration of bats is dominated by gray, brown, black tones. Some animals are lighter in color - in fawn, whitish, yellowish shades. Occasionally there are also bright specimens. For example, the Mexican fish-eating bat (lat. Noctilio leporinus) has yellow or orange fur.

Taken from: www.mammalwatching.com

There are white bats with yellow ears and a nose - these are Honduran white bats (lat. Ectophylla alba).

Taken from faculty.washington.edu

In nature, there are bats with a body that is not covered with hair. There are two known species of naked-skinned bats from Southeast Asia and the Philippines (lat. Cheiromeles torquatus and Cheiromeles parvidens), they are almost completely devoid of wool, only sparse hairs remain.

Bats have unique hearing. It is the leading sense organ in these animals. For example, false horseshoe bats (lat. Hipposideridae) catch the rustle of insects swarming in the grass or under a layer of leaves. On the ears of many bats there is a tragus - a narrow skin-cartilaginous outgrowth rising from the base of the ear. It serves to amplify and better perceive the sound.

Taken from: blogs.crikey.com.au

Vision in bats is poorly developed. There is no color vision at all. But still, bats are not blind, and some even see quite well. For example, the California leaf-bearer (lat. Macrotus californicus) sometimes, with appropriate lighting, looks for prey with the help of its eyes.

Bats have not lost their sense of smell. By smell, the females of the Brazilian folded lip (lat. Tadarida brasiliensis) find their cubs. Some bats distinguish members of their colony from strangers. Greater bats (lat. Myotis myotis) and New Zealand bats (lat. Mystacina tuberculata) smell prey under a layer of foliage. New World leaf-bearers (lat. Phyllostomidae) find the fruits of nightshade plants by smell.

How do bats navigate in the dark?

The main means of orienting bats in space (for example, in dark caves) is echolocation. Animals emit ultrasonic signals that bounce off objects and echo back. Sounds originating in the throat, the animal makes through the mouth or directs them to the nose, radiating through the nostrils. In such individuals, the nostrils are surrounded by bizarre outgrowths that form and focus sound.

People only hear how bats squeak, because the ultrasonic range in which these animals transmit echolocation signals is inaccessible to the human ear. Unlike humans, a bat analyzes the signal reflected from an object and determines its location and size. The mouse "echo sounder" is so accurate that it captures objects with a diameter of 0.1 mm. In addition, winged mammals clearly distinguish all kinds of objects: for example, different types trees. Bats hunt using echolocation. By reflected ultrasonic waves, winged hunters in complete darkness not only find the prey, but also determine its size and speed. During the search for prey, the frequency of sounds reaches 10 oscillations per second, increasing to 200-250 just before the attack. In addition, the bat can squeak when inhaling, exhaling, and even while chewing food. Before the discovery of ultrasound, these mammals were thought to have extrasensory perception.

Representatives of the suborder are able to make both low-frequency and high-frequency sounds, and at the same time. The animal screams and listens at a speed incomprehensible to humans. Some bats, hunting nocturnal insects, emit up to 250 calls per second when approaching them. Some potential victims (, crickets) have developed the ability to hear the squeak of a bat in advance and respond to it with a deceptive maneuver or falling to the ground.

By the way, echolocation is developed not only in bats, but also in seals, shrews, scoop butterflies, and also in some birds.

Where do bats live?

Bats are widely distributed throughout the world, with the exception of Antarctica, the Arctic and some oceanic islands. These animals are most numerous and diverse in the tropics and subtropics.

Bats are nocturnal or crepuscular animals. During daylight hours, they hide in shelters, which can be located in a variety of places underground and above ground. These can be caves, rock crevices, quarries, adits, various buildings built by man. Many varieties of bats live on trees: in hollows, bark crevices, in branches, in foliage. Some mice take refuge in original shelters, such as under bird nests, in bamboo stalks, and even in cobwebs. American suckers (lat. Thyroptera) roost in young folded leaves that unfold after the animals leave their homes. Leaf-builders (lat. Uroderma Peters), biting the leaves of palm trees and other plants along certain lines, get a kind of awning from them.

Some species of bats prefer to live alone or in small groups, such as the small horseshoe bat (lat. Rhinolophus hipposideros), but mostly they keep in colonies. For example, females of a large bat (lat. Myotis myotis) gather in colonies from several tens to several thousand individuals. The record for the number of members is one of the colonies of Brazilian folded lips (lat. Tadarida brasiliensis), numbering up to 20 million individuals.

How do bats hibernate?

Bats that live in cold and temperate latitudes hibernate during the cold season, which can last up to 8 months. Some varieties carry out seasonal migrations at distances up to 1000 km, such as the red hairtail (lat. Lasiurus borealis).

Why do bats sleep upside down?

Bats stand out among mammals not only because they can fly, but also because they can rest: during daytime rest or hibernation, bats hang upside down on their hind legs. This position allows the animals to instantly fly straight from their starting position, simply falling down: less energy is spent this way, and time is saved in case of danger. Suspended upside down, bats cling to wall ledges, tree branches, etc. with their claws. Being in this position, the animals do not get tired, because the tendon mechanism of closing the claws of their hind limbs is designed in such a way that it does not require the expenditure of muscle energy. Some species, settling down to rest, are wrapped in wings. Species such as large bats cluster in dense heaps, and small horseshoe bats always hang on the ceiling or vaults of the cave at some distance from each other.

What do bats eat?

Most bats are insectivorous. Some catch insects on the fly, others pick up bugs sitting on the foliage. Among tropical species there are those who feed exclusively on the fruits, pollen and nectar of plants. But there are also varieties that eat both fruits and insects. For example, the New Zealand bat (lat. Mystacina tuberculata) feeds on various invertebrates: insects, earthworms, centipedes and, but, at the same time, consumes fruits, nectar and pollen. The diet of fish-eating bats (lat. Noctilio) consists of fish and other aquatic inhabitants. Panamanian large leaf-bearer (lat. Phyllostomus hastatus) eats small birds and mammals. There are also species that feed exclusively on the blood of wild and domestic animals, some birds, and sometimes humans. These are vampire bats, among which there are 3 species: upland (lat. Diphylla ecaudata), white-winged (lat. Diaemus youngi) and common (lat. Desmodus rotundus) vampires. In other places the globe other types of vampires live, but they don’t drink blood.

Types of bats, photos and names.

Below is short description several types of bats.

• White leaf-bearing(lat.Ectophylla alba)- a tailless species that belongs to the genus of white leaf-bearers. These are small animals with a body length of 3.7-4.7 cm and a weight of no more than 7 grams. Leaf-nosed females are smaller than males. The body color of the animal corresponds to its name: the boiling-white back passes into the sacrum of a grayish hue, the lower abdomen also has gray color. The nose and ears of the animal have a yellow tone, and the eyes are underlined by a gray frame around them. White leaf-bearers live in South and Central America, namely in countries such as Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama. Animals prefer moist evergreen forests, climbing no higher than seven hundred meters above sea level. Usually these white bats live alone or live in small groups of no more than 6 individuals. Animals feed at night. The diet of these bats includes fruits and some types of ficus.

• Giant evening party(lat.Nyctalus lasiopterus)- This is the largest variety of bats in Russia and European countries. The length of the body of the animal varies from 8.4 to 10.4 cm, and the weight of the bat is 41 - 76 g. The wingspan of the animal reaches 41-46 cm. The giant evening has a brownish or fawn-red back color and a lighter abdomen. Darker coloring prevails on the head behind the ears. The bat lives in forests, and its range extends from France to the Volga region and the Caucasus. Probably, the species is also found in the countries of the Middle East. Often the animal inhabits the hollows of trees together with other representatives of the suborder, less often forms its own colonies. The wintering places of this species are unknown; apparently, the animals make long-distance seasonal flights. In nature, the bat feeds on fairly large insects (butterflies, beetles), as well as small passerine birds, which it catches in the air at fairly high altitudes. This bat is listed in the Red Book.

• Pig-nosed bat (lat.craseonycteris thonglongyai)- This is the smallest bat in the world, which, due to its modest size, is called the bumblebee mouse. The body length of the animal is 2.9-3.3 cm, and the weight does not exceed 2 grams. The ears of the mammal are quite large, with a large tragus. The nose looks like a pig's snout. The color of the animal is usually grayish or dark brown with a slight shade of red, the animal's abdomen is lighter. Pig-nosed bats are endemic to southwestern Thailand and nearby Myanmar. Animals hunt in groups of up to five individuals at night. They fly over bamboo and teak trees in search of insects that sit on the leaves of trees, and when they find food, they hover over prey right in the air due to their small size and wing structure. The number of pig-nosed bats in the world is extremely low. These animals are among the ten most rare species on Earth and are listed in the International Red Book.

Taken from: www.thewildlifediaries.com

• Two-color leather (two-color bat) (lat.Vespertilio murinus) has a body length of up to 6.4 cm and a wingspan of 27 to 33 cm. A bat weighs from 12 to 23 grams. The animal got its name because of the color of the fur, which combines two colors. The back is colored in shades from red to dark brown, and the belly is white or gray. The ears, wings and face of the animal are black or dark brown. These bats live on the territory of Eurasia - from England and France to the coast Pacific Ocean. Northern border of the range: Norway, central Russia, Southern Siberia; southern border: southern Italy, Iran, Himalayas, Northeast China. The habitat of the two-colored kozhan is mountains, steppes and woodlands. In countries Western Europe these bats are often found in major cities. Two-color leathers do not mind being close to other types of bats, with which they share common shelters: attics, cornices, tree hollows, rock cracks. Animals prey on, caddis flies, moths and other small insects throughout the night. The species is endangered and protected in many countries.

Taken from: www.aku-bochum.de

• Greater harelip (fish-eating bat)(lat.Noctilio leporinus) has a body length of 6.5-13.2 cm and a weight of 60 to 78 g. The coloration of males and females varies: the former have a reddish or bright red body, the latter are painted in dull grayish-brownish shades. A light stripe runs from the back of the head to the end of the back of the animal. These bats are found from the south of Mexico to the northern part of Argentina, they are found in the Antilles, the southern Bahamas and the island of Trinidad. Chiroptera settle near the water in caves, rock crevices, and also climb into hollows and tree crowns. Large harelips feed on large insects and aquatic inhabitants of fresh water bodies: fish and crustaceans. Sometimes they hunt during the day.

Taken from: reddit.com

Taken from: mammalart.wordpress.com

• Water bat (Dobanton's bat)(lat.Myotis daubentonii) got its name in honor of the French naturalist Louis Jean-Marie Daubanton. This small animal has a body length of no more than 4.5 - 5.5 cm and weighs from 7 to 15 g. The wingspan is 24 - 27.5 cm. The color of the fur is inconspicuous: dark, brownish. The top is darker than the bottom. The habitat of the animal extends from Great Britain and France to Sakhalin, Kamchatka and the Ussuri Territory. The northern border runs near 60°N, the southern border runs from Southern Italy, along the south of Ukraine, the lower Volga, through northern Kazakhstan, Altai, northern Mongolia, to Primorsky Krai. The life of a bat is connected with water bodies, although animals are found far from them. During the day, they can climb into a hollow or attic, and with the onset of night they begin to hunt. These bats fly slowly, often fluttering over the surface of water bodies, and catch medium-sized insects, mainly mosquitoes. If there is no reservoir nearby, then the water bats hunt among the trees. By destroying blood-sucking insects, water bats contribute to the fight against malaria and tularemia.

• Brown earflap ( he is ordinary earflap)(lat.Plecotus auritus) has a body length of 4-5 cm and a weight of 6-12 g. The body is covered with uneven dull fur. Ushan habitats cover almost all of Eurasia, including Portugal in the western part of the range and up to the Kamchatka Peninsula in the eastern part. Also, brown earflaps are found in northern Africa, in Iran and central China. The lifestyle of bats is sedentary. These winged animals hibernate not far from their places of stay in summer time, inhabiting caves, various cellars, well log cabins and hollows of powerful trees, sometimes meeting in the attics of houses that were insulated for the winter. On the hunt with a bat big ears flies out in complete darkness and hunts until sunrise.

• Bat-dwarf ( he is small or small-headed bat) (lat. Pipistrelluspipistrellus)- a rather numerous species belonging to the genus of inexperienced, the family of smooth-nosed bats. This is the smallest species of bats in Europe. The body of the dwarf bat resembles the body of a mouse, its length is 38-45 mm, and the length of the tail is 28-33 mm. The mass of a dwarf bat is usually 3-6 g. The wingspan of this small bat reaches 19-22 cm. The body is covered with short, even hair, which is brown in the European form of the animal, and pale grayish-yellow in the Asian. The lower part of the body has a lighter color. The dwarf bat is widespread in Eurasia: from west to east from Spain to Western China, and from north to south from southern Norway to Asia Minor and Iran. This species of bats, in addition to Eurasia, is found in North Africa. Settles in places associated with human habitation, does not occur in the depths of forests and steppes, avoids caves, sometimes settles in hollows of trees. In winter, bats make seasonal migrations. Adult males are extremely rare in the spring-summer period, as they keep alone or gather in small groups separately from females and young individuals. Bats hunt after sunset. They fly low, in the lower part of tree crowns. The food of this tiny mouse is made up of small insects. The dwarf bat is one of the most useful bats in the Eurasian fauna.

• Great horseshoe(lat. Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) . The dimensions of the animal are 5.2-7.1 cm, the wingspan reaches 35-40 cm, and the mass of the bat is 13-34 g. The color of the back varies depending on the habitat from dark chocolate to pale smoky fawn. The belly of the animal is whitish with a gray tint, lighter than the color of the back. Young animals have a monochromatic grayish color. The species is distributed in northern Africa (Morocco, Algeria), in Eurasia, the habitat of the horseshoe bat extends from Great Britain and Portugal through mountainous areas Central Europe, covers the Balkans, the countries of Asia Minor, the Caucasus, the Himalayas, Tibet, and ends in the south of China, Korean peninsula and Japan. On the territory of Russia, this bat is found in the Crimea and the North Caucasus, covering the range from Krasnodar Territory to Dagestan. The habitual places of settlement of the horseshoe bat are mountain crevices, grottoes, cellars and ruins, as well as caves. AT Central Asia these animals live under the domes of tombs and mosques. Bats live relatively sedentary, making local seasonal migrations. They hibernate in damp caves and dungeons. They hunt low above the ground for moths and small beetles. The large horseshoe bat is listed in the Red Book of Russia.

• Ordinary Vampire ( he is big bloodsucker, or desmode) (lat.Desmodus rotundus) - most numerous and known species real vampires. Largely due to this genus, bats have their bad reputation. An ordinary vampire really feeds on blood, including drinking human blood. This animal is small in size: the length of the bat is 8 cm, the weight is 50 g, the wingspan is 20 cm. Bloodsucking vampires live in large colonies. During the day they sleep in the hollows of old trees and caves. An ordinary vampire flies out to hunt late at night, when his future victims are immersed in a deep sleep. He attacks large ungulates, such as,. It can also bite a person sleeping in an open area or in a house with open and unprotected mesh windows. With the help of hearing and smell, vampire bats find a sleeping victim, sit on it or next to it, crawl to the place where the vessels come close to the surface of the skin, bite through it and lick the blood flowing from the wound. A special secret contained in the saliva, which the vampire wets the victim's skin, makes the bite painless and affects blood clotting. As a result, the victim may die from blood loss, as the blood flows out for a long time without clotting. But not only this dangerous ordinary vampire. With its bite, the virus of rabies, plague and other diseases can be transmitted. Vampires also suffer from rabies. The spread of disease within the species is due, among other things, to the propensity of vampires to share regurgitated blood with hungry kin, a habit extremely rare among animals. Vampire bats live only in the tropics and subtropics of Central and South America. There are other kinds of vampires in other parts of the world, but they don't feed on blood. Thanks to these three types of bats, a negative attitude towards bats, which are not only harmless, but also useful animals, has taken root.

Bats in hibernation, as well as during daytime rest, hang head down, clinging to one or two legs. “A funny pose ... - says A.P. Kuzyakin, - takes an earflap; he bends his huge ears under his wings, and covers the ear canals with the bases of the protruding tragus, as if completely isolated from extraneous noise. Sleeping horseshoe bats often wrap their bodies in wide wings".

Some species, such as water bats, like to nest in narrow cracks in cave walls. Sometimes thanks high humidity air in the caves, hanging animals are covered with many small droplets of a kind of dew. If the temperature in the shelter drops, then these droplets freeze. The animal is enclosed in a thin ice shell. This phenomenon was especially often observed in wintering shoals. After all, they, as you know, painlessly endure the action of small negative temperatures.

In many species of our bats, spring awakening is timed to coincide with the second half of April. The timing of awakening almost does not change from year to year.

The ears start to wake up early. Already in the last decade of March, especially if the weather is warm, they can be seen flying over thawed spring snow. Earflaps wintering in caves can wake up in the middle of winter. Coming out of their stupor, they move around the shelter. Temporary winter wakefulness is also observed in other bats. In areas with a mild climate, they periodically wake up and lead active image life horseshoe bats, some types of night bats.

Little is known about the reasons for this awakening. But the physiological processes that take place in the body of a waking animal are very well studied.

What are these processes and how does the awakening proceed?

In order to warm up even its small body to the required temperature, the animal has to expend a huge amount of energy, this energy is formed as a result of the decomposition of the so-called brown fat. Brown adipose tissue is located in the region of the heart, diaphragm and in the dorsal part of the body between the shoulder blades. Previously, it was believed that this tissue is something like a kind of endocrine gland. Later, its role in energy processes in hibernating animals was established.

Heat production from brown fat is especially important in the early stages of awakening. If at this time the temperature of the body of the animal is measured in places to which brown adipose tissue is directly adjacent, then it turns out to be 8-10 degrees higher than the temperature of other parts of the body. It is calculated that the big bat, waking up and warming up its body, receives from brown fat up to 55 percent of all the energy that is needed for a full awakening. Probably something similar happens in other bats.

Where does the rest of the energy come from? It turns out that its receipt is associated with the trembling of the animal. In essence, trembling is nothing more than the movement of certain muscle groups, their active work. In doing this work, the muscles release energy in the form of heat. Many mammals, including humans, manage to prevent hypothermia in this way. But if in the usual case a warm-blooded animal responds with a shiver to a cold irritation, then bats use the energy of shivering to warm up the body during awakening. This system of thermoregulation in bats comes into action only after the body has already sufficiently warmed up as a result of a reaction in brown adipose tissue. At low temperatures jitter is not possible. So, bats begin to tremble only 20-30 minutes after waking up, at a body temperature of about 10 degrees. Further, with an increase in temperature to about 17 degrees, the intensity of the jitter continues to increase. After that, the trembling weakens and, upon reaching normal temperature stops.

Fruit bat, flying fox (Pteropus)

The awakening rate is determined mainly by the first stage of heat generation. It is the higher, the greater the supply of brown fat. If a bat wakes up repeatedly during the winter, then with each subsequent awakening, the amount of fat becomes less and less. Therefore, in most cases, the frequency of awakening of animals in the middle of winter is lower than at the beginning of hibernation. Especially if periods of activity are not accompanied by nutrition.

However, dealing with the activity of bats during hibernation is much more complicated than it seems at first glance. For the Brazilian folded lip, for example, it has been proven that the percentage of individuals capable of becoming active is slightly higher in winter than in autumn. Probably, the ability to awaken is determined not only by the size of the fat reserves, but also by the duration of the stay of the animals in the cold.

We still have not clarified one more point concerning the winter awakenings of bats. Namely: the significance of such awakenings from the point of view of the energy of the body. Why does an animal go to great expense on its stocks? After all, not for the same, just to warm up after a long hanging upside down.

It is believed that the main reason for the awakening of bats is the need to get rid of waste products accumulated during hibernation. In addition, sometimes awakenings are accompanied by the feeding activity of animals and may be important for energy balance hibernating organism.

Newborn bats are completely incapable of independent thermoregulation. Being with the mother, they are entirely dependent on the temperature of her body. If the female is separated from the cub, then after a while the baby cools down to ambient temperature just like a typical poikilothermic animal. The young of many species of bats can withstand freezing temperatures down to zero degrees. However, they cannot bear high temperature- 42-43 degrees and more.

Observations have shown that the first signs of thermoregulation in the young generation of the great bat begin to appear as early as two days of age. Two-week-old animals during the day keep their body temperature close to external, and at night they maintain it at a stable, fairly high level. When the hairline of young bats becomes as thick as that of adults, they acquire the ability to completely control their body temperature.

Concluding the story about hibernation and thermoregulation of bats, let's briefly summarize. The ecological meaning of bats regularly falling into stupor with a decrease in body temperature is to save energy as efficiently as possible, especially during those periods when its replenishment is difficult or almost impossible. Agree, nature has found a wise solution to this problem. She, like a zealous host, temporarily muffles the fire, makes almost invisible a little glowing light inside. But time passes, and she vigorously inflates it, without stint endowing the unquenchable flame of life with the desired fuel.

Migration is an amazing and spectacular natural phenomenon - the mass movement of animals across our Earth. In general, everything has been said and shown about the flights of birds, because their flying abilities make it much easier to make long journeys. But even among mammals there are well-flying animals - bats.

British photographer Will Barrard Lucas took a rare photo while traveling in Zambia a natural phenomenon- migration of more than 8 million bats.

Bats are a large group of flying animals whose lifestyle is very different from that of birds, as they are mammals.

All bats distributed in temperate latitudes feed on insects, but in winter this type of food almost completely disappears.

Bats usually hibernate in some cool but warm shelters, such as caves, or migrate south, where insects are present even in winter.

For the first time, the assumption that bats migrate to the south arose when it was discovered that some of their species in Europe and America are very rare in wintering in caves, falling into long seasonal hibernation, although there are a lot of them in summer.

Compared to small birds and some small mammals, bats live long lives, and each of them makes several flights in their lifetime.

British photographer Will Barrard Lucas captured an unusual picture of over 8 million bats circling in the sky above Kasanka National Park in Zambia.

In nature, there are 700 species of bats, divided into 16 families.

Large species of bats can eat not only insects, but also birds, lizards, and frogs.

By the way, bats are extremely useful animals: an insectivorous bat can eat up to 200 mosquitoes in an hour of hunting.

Bats detect objects that block their path by emitting sounds that are inaudible to humans and catching their echo reflected from objects. Before the discovery of ultrasonic echolocation, bats were thought to have extrasensory perception.

Studies have shown that bats are able to detect a wire obstacle at a distance of 17 meters. The detection range depends on the wire diameter.

During flight, bats sing songs using complex combinations of syllables at high frequencies (due to their ability to echolocate). They create ultrasonic waves from 40 to 100 kHz.

According to biologist Michael Smotherman, no other mammal other than humans has the ability to communicate with such complex voice sequences.

Large fish-eating bats patrol the water surface at night, emitting very strong echolocation signals. But these signals do not penetrate into the water column. The mouse cannot detect a fish that is under water, but it will immediately find it if the fish sticks even a small part of its body out of the water.

How bats winter, you will learn from this article.

Where do bats winter?

The exterminators of harmful insects - bats, disappear from our field of vision in autumn. Some of their species, with the onset of cold, fly away to warmer ones, southern regions flying many miles. But earflaps, nightlights and evenings remain in place and hibernate.

Animals look for comfortable shelters by hiding in a gap or securely attaching their paws to ceilings or walls, hanging upside down. The shelter must be securely hidden and without drafts. The temperature in it fluctuates 7-8 0 C with humidity of 80-100%. It can be deep wells, dungeons, basements, caves, mines and adits, attics and hollows of old trees.

The hibernation period of bats is 6-8 months. Some can sleep completely still for up to 5.5 months. The heartbeat slows down significantly from 420 beats per minute to 15-16 beats. And the body temperature is 0 0 C at all.

When do bats wake up?

The moment when bats wake up depends on the type of animals themselves and some circumstances. Those bats that are resistant to cold and frost wake up in March. And lovers of warm latitudes (for example, night bats) can sleep until mid-May. Especially when the winter was long and frosty.

When bats wake up, they begin to tremble, as if in a fever. This is their usual state after a long suspended animation. The muscles of bats begin to contract rapidly, and thus their body temperature rises to 30 0 C. This is how the period of active life and reproduction of bats begins.