Monday, May 4, 2015

A bathouse for every Floridian nature home


I got a bat house as a birthday present from my son and I am eager to to how well the bats like it. It says it can hold up to 300 which may be a bit much but I am looking forward to less mosquito in the yard with the help of these flying mammals. Florida’s 13 native bat species are gluttonous consumers of night-flying insects, including the ever-present, ever-biting mosquitoes. They can eat up to half of their body weight in insects in one night.


Although some mammals can glide, bats are the only mammal that can truly fly. Scientists have classified bats into a unique group or order called "Chiroptera", which means "hand wing." Bats literally fly with their hands! Their wings are much like our hands, but with longer fingers and a thin, but tough, membrane (skin) between the fingers. World-wide there are over 1,000 species of bats. From the fossil records we have learned that bats existed over 65 million years ago. Today, they inhabit all areas of the globe except Antarctica and the extreme desert regions, but most bat species live in the tropics.

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