Joel Hendon

Only God Could Build The Amazing Bats


Posted: Saturday, July 30, 2011

by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html

Few people realize just how plentiful is the world’s population of the wide species of bats. Supposedly there are approximately 1,240 species of bats worldwide and they range in size from about 1 to 1-½ inches long (the Kitti's Hog Nosed Bat ), to the Giant Golden-Crowned Flying-Fox which measures 13 to 13-½ inches long and has an almost five foot wingspan.

Some species of bats are found over most of the world. They are of high ecological value. They are unique in their appearance, their flying ability and other such peculiar things not found in most mammals. All other flying mammals do not actually fly but, glide. Flying squirrels, gliding possums and Colugos (found in east Asia) only glide.

(The Giant Golden-Crowned Flying Fox-Bat: Notice his head. It is easy to see where the "fox" found it's way into his name--Wikipedia Photo)

You will find some type of bats in most of the states here at home. But the Mexican Free Tail Bat is evidently the most populous of all and are found in the millions throughout Texas. They are located from Houston to Austin and much more. Actually they can be found in many states and down through Central America and as far as Argentina and Chile. They spend the Summer in the United States and move back to Mexico for the Winter.

People’s attitude towards bats range from hatred, repulsive and fear to admiration, priceless, and protective. I was always intrigued by the little varmints who used to frequent our farmyard at night, darting and zooming in every direction as they scooped up insects (flies, gnats, mosquitoes, etc). They fly extremely fast and can probably out-maneuver almost any other flying creature, with the possible exception of the humming birds. But their value is not limited to their consumption of insects, although it is highly valuable. But where there are extremely large colonies of them, their excrement is valued for fertilizer and is also used in some cosmetics and explosives.

And large colonies, there are. Many caves and underneath large bridges, serve as shelter for their day time of and sleep. Then, at dusk they begin to emerge in swarms for their night of consuming insects. Read the following excerpt:

"The Mexican Free-Tailed Bat (Tadarida Brasiliensis mexicana) is a subspecies of the Brazilian Free-Tailed Bat (Tadarida brasilensis). The bat is called free-tailed because the last part of the tail is not enveloped in the back membrane as are most bats. This gives all free-tailed bats a distinctive short mouse-like tail. Bats are mammals but otherwise not related to the mouse. As mammals all bats are born live, attached to a placenta, just like the rest of us mammals. The pups suckle from the breast and are helpless. The adult Mexican Free-Tailed Bat is about four inches long and weighs only about fifteen grams (about half an ounce). The pup is the size of the end of your little finger. In the summer this bat can be seen in Texas living in colonies of millions in caves and man-made structures such as bridges. The bats emerge each evening from the Sinkhole and fly to the agricultural areas to the east and southeast where they feast on insect pests, mostly moths.

The bats of the Devil's Sinkhole have a unique problem. The huge cavern has a relatively small opening in the dome. Flying straight up is difficult so the bats circle upwards in a counter clockwise direction. This swirling bats become squeezed into a small spinning column as they emerge from the opening. To the onlooker it is like a dark tornado that lasts about 45 minutes." (Devils Sinkhole Society Website)

(Swarms of Mexican Freetail Bats, emerging at dusk-Wikipedia
photo)

The Bracken Bat Cave near the Texas hill country is reputed to be the largest bat shelter in the world with an estimated 20 million bat residents in the summer time.

The emergence of these millions of bats, as they spiral out of the cave at dusk for their nightly insect hunt, is an unforgettable sight. (Bracken Bat Cave Website)

It is estimated that, in Austin alone, the bats bring in about $8 million per year in eco-tourism. Also, farmers in the central portion of Texas expect and depend upon the millions of little critters to remove approximately 1,000 tons of harmful insects from the air each night.

So, if you meet someone who is said to have “bats in his belfry”, you can know that he is very appreciative for them.

 
Author Biography: Joel Hendon was born near Gadsden Alabama. He attended public schools in Cherokee County, Alabama and after serving a tour of duty in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, attended Jacksonville State University, majoring in Business Administration. He became a Christian in 1948, and although he followed secular work as a career and retired from Allied Signal Aerospace, he is an avid student of the Holy Bible and related works as well as biblical history. He has an extensive website of conservative religious and political articles.http://hebronics.org/index.html

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by Jack H. Schick
 292 days 13 hours ago.
99 fans.
Gees, Joel. I just starte research on an essay about bats. You beat me to it. Thanks for the info.
» left by Joel Hendon 292 days 12 hours ago.
127 fans.
Sorry, Jack...I had no idea you were working on one. Go ahead, I'm sure you can do a much richer job on it that I did. Besides there is an awful lot of interesting stuff about them that I did not incorporate into mine. thanks for reading and the comment.
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