Bats are mammals. Though they can fly like birds,
their wings are different than birds. They are like very long
fingers covered by skin and fur, not feathers.
Bats are not blind, as some people think, and many can see
very well. Bats depend on sound and very good hearing to find food and to
get around in the dark. Bats of the Idaho are insectivores, which means they
eat insects. Some bats may catch up to 1,200 insects in just one hour. No
wonder bats are considered nature's best bug control.
There are about 900 species of bats. Bats are found on all
the continents of the planet except Antarctica. Forty-two species of bats
can be found in the United States, but only fourteen different species can
be found in Idaho.
Bats are very clean animals, and spend much of their resting
times grooming and cleaning themselves. Bats can get rabies, like all
mammals, but few ever do. Remember, bats are wild animals. You have nothing
to fear if you never touch a bat.
Bats are exceptionally vulnerable to extinction, in part
because they are the slowest reproducing mammals on earth for their size,
most have only one baby each year. More than 50 percent of American bat
species are in severe decline or already listed as endangered.
