Background/Story
Why I am batty about bats
We are surrounded by woods where we live. One would think that in that environment we would have a lot of mosquitos … and one would be correct. We have, however, a bat living in the arch at the front entry to our house. The bat eats all of our mosquitos and some of our neighbors’ mosquitos as well. The only downfall (literally) is that when the bat returns after its feeding frenzy in the evening, we have a lot of bat droppings on our front porch the next morning. Still, I’d rather sweep up mosquitos in this form than have no bat and have lots of mosquitos inhibiting our ability to enjoy the outdoors!
Scientists have discovered that
some small bats can catch up to 1,000 or more small insects in a
single hour. A nursing mother bat eats the most – sometimes
catching more than 4,000 insects in a night.
- Â from “Calculate the Value of Bats”
Math, Science and vocabulary lesson and activities on USDA.gov website
by Ann Dittmar