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Bats are in the order Chiroptera . The forelimbs of bats are developed as wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of flight (opposed to other mammals, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums and colugos, that glide only for a distance). Bats do not flap arms like birds, instead they flap spread out hands where their fingers^2] are very long and covered with a thin membrane or patagium. Chiroptera comes from two Greek words cheir (?e??) "hand" and pteron (pte???) "wing."

There is an estimated total of about 1,100 species worldwide, which is about 20 percent of all classified mammal species.^[3] About 70 percent of bats are insectivores. Most of the rest are frugivores, with a few species being carnivorous. Ba ts are present throughout most of the world and perform a vital ecological role by pollinating flowers, and eat various plants to disperse their seeds. Many tropical plants depend for their seeds to be distributed entirely by bats.

Bats range in size from Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat measuring 29–33 mm (1.14–1.30 in) in length and 2 g (0.07 oz) in mass,^[4] to the Giant golden-crowned flying fox which has a wing span of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) and weighs approximately 1.2 kg (3 lb).

Fossil Bats

There are few fossilized remains of bats given they are terrestrial and light-boned. An Eocene bat, Onychonycteris finneyi, was found in the 52-million-year-old Green River Formation in South Dakota (US) in 2004 and was added as a new genus and placed in a new family when published in Nature, in February 2008.^[5] It had aspects showing that it could fly, yet the well-preserved skeleton showed that the cochlea of the inner ear lacked development which in modern bats have, providing evidence that flight in bats developed well before echolocation. The team that found the remains realised Onychonycteris finneyi the species name it was given, was different finding that it lacked ear and throat features present not only in echolocating bats today, but also in other known prehistoric species. As a side note, an early Eocene fossil of Icaronycteris, was found in 1960.

The appearance and flight movement of bats of 52.5 million years ago were completely different from the bats of today. Onychonycteris had claws on all five of its fingers, whereas modern bats have at most two claws appearing on two d igits of each hand. It also had longer hind legs and shorter forearms, similar to climbing mammals that hang under branches which include sloths and gibbons. This palm-sized animal had broad, short wings suggesting that it could not fly as fast or as far as latter bat species. Instead of flapping its wings continuously while flying, Onychonycteris is likely have alternated between flaps and glides while in the air. Such physical characteristics suggest that this type of bat did not fly as much as modern bats do, flying from tree to tree and spending most of its waking day climbing or hanging on the branches of trees.^[6]

Classification and Evolution

Giant golden-crowned flying fox, Acerodon jubatus

Common Pipistrelle, Pipistrellus pipistrellus

Bats are mammals. Sometimes though they are called "flying rodents", "flying rats," or even mistaken for insects and birds. There are two suborders of bats:

• Megachiroptera (megabats)
• Microchiroptera (microbats/echolocating bats)

Not all megabats are larger than microbats. The major distinction between the two suborders is based on such factors as given below:

• Microbats use echolocation: megabats do not with the exception of Rousettus and relatives.
• Microbats lack the claw at the second toe of the forelimb.
• The ears of microbats do not close to form a ring: the edges are separated from each other at the base of the ear.
• Microbats lack underfur: they are either naked or have guard hairs.

Megabats eat fruit, nectar or pollen while microbats eat insects, small quantities of the blood of animals, small mammals, fish and may also consume fruit, pollen or nectar. Megabats have a well-developed visual cortex and show good visual acuity, while microbats rely on echolocation for navigation and finding prey.

The phylogenetic relationships of the different groups of bats have been the subject of much debate. The traditional subdivision between Megachiroptera and Microchiroptera reflects the predominant view that these groups of bats have evolved indep endently of each other for a long time, from a common ancestor that was already capable of flight. This hypothesis recognised differences between microbats and megabats and acknowledged that flight has just evolved only in one order of mammals. Most molecular biological evidence supports the view that bats form a single or monophyletic group^[7].

Quite recently, researchers proposed alternate views of chiropteran phylogeny and classification, but more research is needed, as the following points provided below indicate:

• Genetic evidence indicate that megabats should be placed within the four major lines of microbats, originating during the early Eocene. This has resulted in new classifications, which includes two suborders. The suborder Yinpterochiroptera includes the Pteropodidae or megabat family as well as the Rhinolophidae, Megadermatidae, and Rhinopo matidae families. The Yangochiroptera includes all the remaining families of bats. This relationship combine echolocating and non-echolocating bats, and it is not clear whether the ancestor of bats possessed laryngeal echolocation which the bats of Pteropodiae subsequently lost or if this ability was the result of something other ability that evolved twice.^[8]
• As an alternative to the Yinpterochiroptera/Yangochiroptera classification, some researchers use Pteropodiformes and Vespertilioniformes as the names of suborders of chiroptera.^[9][10] This nomenclature seems to be more stable.^[9] Under this new proposed nomenclature, the suborder Pteropodiformes would be defined to include all extant bat families more closely related to the genus Pteropus than the genus Vespertilio, while the suborder Vespertilioniformes would be defined to include all extant bat families more closely related to the genus Vespertilio than to the genus Pteropus.
• In the 1980s, a hypothesis based on morphological evidence was made that stated Megachiroptera evolved flight separately from Microchiroptera. The so-called Flying primates theory proposed that when adaptations to flight are removed, the Megachiroptera are allied to primates by anatomical features that are not shared with Microchiroptera. One example is that brains of megabats show a number of advanced characteristics which link them to primates. Although recent genetic studies support the monophyly of bats^[11], debate continues on where of DNA versus morphological ev idence can settle this controversy^{[citation needed]}.

Little fossil evidence exists about the evolution of bats, since their small, delicate skeletons do not fossilize very well. However a Late Cretaceous tooth from South America resembles that of an early Microchiropteran bat. The oldest known definite bat fossils, such as Icaronycteris, Archaeonycteris, Palaeochiropteryx and Hassianycteris, are from the early Eocene period, 52.5 million years ago^[7], but they were already very similar to modern microbats. Archaeopteropus, formerly classified as the earliest known megachiropteran, is now classified as a microchiropteran.

Bats were formerly grouped in the superorder Archonta along with the treeshrews (Scandentia), colugos (Dermoptera), and the primates, because of the similarities between Megachiroptera and such mammals. Though genetic studies have now placed bats in the superorder Laurasiatheria along with carnivorans, pangolins, odd-toed ungulates, even-toed ungulates, and cetaceans.

"Chiroptera" from Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur, 1904

Provided below is the traditional classification of bats:

• Order Chiroptera
  • Suborder Megachiroptera (megabats)
    • Pteropodidae
  • Suborder Microchiroptera (microbats )
    • Superfamily Emballonuroidea
      • Emballonuridae (Sac-winged or Sheath-tailed bats)
    • Superfamily Molossoidea
      • Antrozoidae (Pallid bats)
      • Molossidae (Free-tailed bats)
    • Superfamily Nataloidea
      • Furipteridae (Smoky bats)
      • Myzopodidae (Sucker-footed bats)
      • Natalidae (Funnel-eared bats)
      • Thyropteridae (Disk-winged bats)
    • Superfamily Noctilionoidea
      • Mormoopidae (Ghost-faced or Moustached bats)
      • Mystacinidae (New Zealand short-tailed bats)
      • Noctilionidae (Bulldog bats or Fisherman bats)
      • Phyllostomidae (Leaf-nosed bats)
    • Superfamily Rhinolophoidea
      • Megadermatidae (False vampires)
      • Nycteridae (Hollow-faced or Slit-faced bats)
      • Rhinolophidae (Horseshoe bats)
    • Superfamily Rhinopomatoidea
      • Craseonycter idae (Bumblebee Bat or Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat)
      • Rhinopomatidae (Mouse-tailed bats)
    • Superfamily Vespertilionoidea
      • Vespertilionidae (Vesper bats or Evening bats)

Megabats primarily eat fruit or nectar. They are likely to have evolved for some time in New Guinea without living alongside microbats. This has resulted in some smaller megabats of the genus Nyctimene becoming (partly) insectivorous to fill the vacant microbat ecological niche. Furthermore, there is some evidence that the fruit bat genus Pteralopex from the Solomon Islands, and its close relative Mirimiri from Fiji, have evolved to fill some niches that were open because there are no nonvolant or non-flying mammals in those islands.

Anatomy

Skeleton of a Greater Mouse-eared Bat (Myotis myotis))

In emitting high-pitched sounds and listening to resultant echoes, the process used in radar technology, microbats are able to locate prey and nearby objects. This is the process known as echolocation, the ability they similarly share with dolphins and whales. Two groups of moths exploit a bat sense to echolocate: tiger moths produce ultrasonic signals to warn the bats of that moths are chemically-protective or aposematic. This was once thought to be the biological equivalent of "radar jamming", but this theory yet to be confirmed. The moths Noctuidae have a hearing organ called a tympanum which responds to an incoming bat signal by causing the moth's fli ght muscles to twitch erratically, sending the moth into random evasive manoeuvres.

Although the eyes of most microbat species are small and poorly developed, leading to poor visual acuity, none of them are blind. Vision is used to navigate microbats especially for long distances when beyond the range of echolocation. It has even been discovered that some species are able to detect ultraviolet light. They also have a high quaility of sense of smell and hearing. Bats hunt at night to avoid competition with birds, and travel large distances at most 800 km, in their search for food.^[2]

The teeth of microbats resemble insectivorans. They are very sharp so bite through the hardened armor of insects or the skin of fruit. Mammals have one-way valves in veins to prevent the blood from flowing backwards, but bats also have one-way valves in arteries.

Thermographic image of a bat using trapped air as insulation.

The finger bones of bats are much more flexible than those of other mammals. One reason is that the cartilage in their fingers lacks calcium and other minerals nearer the tips, increasing their ability to bend without splintering. The cross-section of the finger bone is also flattened compared to circular cross section of human finger bone have, and is very flexible. The skin on their wing membranes has more elasticity and so can stretch much more than other mammals.

The wings of bats are much thinner than those of birds, so bats can manoeuvre more quickly and more accurately than birds. It is also delicate, ripping easily.^[12] However the tissues of the bat's membrane is able to regrow, such that small tears can heal quickly.^[12][13] The surface of their wings are equipped with touch-sensitive receptors on small bumps called Merkel cells, found in most mammals including humans, similarly found on our finger tips. These sensitive areas are different in bats as each bump has a tiny hair in the center,^[14] making it even more sensitive, and stimulate allowing the bat to detect and collect information about the air flowing over its wings, providing feedback to the bat to change its shape of its wing to fly more efficiently.^[14] Some bats like the little brown bat can use this dexterious ability where it is able to drink in mid air.^[15] Other bats such as the flying fox or fruit bat gently skim the water's surface, then lands nearby to lick water from their chest fur.^[16] An additional kind of receptor cell is found in the wing membrane of species that use their wings to catch prey. This receptor cell is sensitive to the stretching of the membrane.^[14] The cells are concentrated in areas of the membrane where insects hit the wings when the bats capture them.

One species of bat has the longest tongue of any mammal relative to its body size. This is beneficial to them in terms of pollin ation and feeding their long narrow tongues can reach deep into the long cup shape of some flowers. When their tongue retracts, it coils up inside their rib cage.^[17]

The lungs of bats are typical mammalian lungs, and unlike the lungs of birds it has been hypothesized they are more sensitive to sudden air pressure changes in their immediate vicinity such as wind turbines, and are more liable to rupture them to explain their apparent higher rate of mortality rate with such devices.^[18] Bats suffer a higher death rate than birds in the neighborhood of wind turbines^[19][20][21] ; since there are no signs of external trauma, the cause has been hypothesized to be a greater sensitivity to sudden pressure fluctuations in the mammalian lung than in that of birds.^[22] In addition, it has been suggested that bats are attracted to these structures, perhaps seeking roosts, and thereby increasing the death rate.^[18]

Reproduction

Newborn Common Pipistr elle, Pipistrellus pipistrellus

Colony of Mouse-eared Bats, Myotis myotis

Most bats have a breeding season, which is in the spring for species living in a temperate climate. Bats may have one to three litters in a season, depending on the species and on environmental conditions such as the availability of food and roost sites. Females generally have one offspring at a time, this is maybe a result of the mother's need to fly to feed while pregnant. Female bats nurse their youngster until it has grown nearly to adult size, this is because a young bat cannot forage on its own until its wings are fully developed.

Female bats use a variety of strategies to control th e timing of pregnancy and the birth of young, to make delivery coincide with maximum food ability and other ecological factors. Females of some species have delayed fertilisation, in which sperm are stored in the reproductive tract for several months after mating. In many such cases, mating occurs in the fall, and fertilisation does not occur until the following spring. Other species exhibit delayed implantation, in which the egg is fertilised after mating, but remains free in the reproductive tract until external conditions become favorable for giving birth and caring for the offspring. In yet another strategy, fertilisation and implantation both occur but development of the fetus is delayed until favorable conditions prevail. All of these adaptations result in the pup being born during a time of high local production of fruit or insects.

At birth wings are too small to be used for flight. Young microbats become independent at the age of 6 to 8 weeks, megabats do not until they are four months old.

A single bat can live over 20 years, but the bat population growth is limited by the slow birth rate.^[23]

Behavior

Most microbats are nocturnal and are active at twilight. A large portion of bats migrate hundred of kilometers to winter hibernation dens^[24], some pass into torpor in cold weather, rousing and feed when warm weather allows for insects to be active^[25]. Others retreat to caves for winter and hibernate for six months.^[25] Bats rarely fly in rain as the rain interferes with their echo location, and they are unable to locate their food.

The social structure of bats varies, with some bats leading a solitary life and others living in caves colonized by more than a million bats^[26]. The fission-fusion social structure is seen among several species of bats. The term "fusion" refers to a large numbers of bats that congregate together in one roosting area and "fission" refers to breaking up and the mixing of subgroups, where individual bats switching roosts with others and often ending up in different trees and with different roostmates.

Studies also show that bats make all kinds of sounds to communicate with others. Scientists in the field have listened to bats and have been able to identify some sounds with some behaviour bats will make right after the sounds are made^[26].

70 % of bat species are insectivorous, locating their prey by means of echolocation. Of the remainder, most feed on fruits^[27]. Only three species sustain themselves with blood. Some species even prey on vertebrates: these are the leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae) of Central America and South America, and the two bulldog bat (Noctilionidae) species, which feed on fish. At least two species of bat are known to feed on bats: the Spectral Bat, also known as the American False Vampire bat, and the Ghost Bat of Australia^[27]. One species, the Greater Noctule bat, catches and eats small birds in the air.

Pathogens and Their Relation To Bats

A big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) approaches a wax moth (Galleria mellonella), which serves as the control species for the studies of the tiger moths. The moth is only "semi-tethered," allowing it to fly evasively.

Bats are natural reservoir for a large number of zoonotic pathogens^[28] including rabies,^[29] severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS),^[30] Henipavirus (ie. Nipah virus and Hendra virus)^[31] and possibly ebola virus^[32].^[33] Their high mobility, broad distribution, and social behaviour (communal roosting, fission-fusion social structure) make bats favourable hosts and vectors of disease. Many species also appear to have a high tolerance for harbouring pathogens and often do not develop disease while infected.

In regions where rabies is endemic, only 0.5% of bats carry the disease. However, of the few cases of rabies reported in the United States every year not caused by dogs, most are caused by bat bites.^[34] Those that are rabid may be clumsy, disoriented, and unable to fly, which makes it more likely that they will come into contact with humans. Although one should not have an unreasonable fear of bats, one should avoid handling them or having them in one's living space, as with any wild animal. If a bat is found in living quarters near a child, mentally handicapped person, intoxicated person, sleeping person, or pet, the person or pet should receive immediate medical attention for rabies. Bats have very small teeth and can bite a sleeping person without being felt. There is evidence that it is possible for the bat rabies virus to infect victims purely through airborne transmission, without direct physical contact of the victim with the bat itself.^[35][36]

If a bat is found in a house and the possibility of exposure cannot be ruled out, the bat should be sequestered and an animal control officer called immediately, so that the bat can be analysed. This also applies if the bat is found dead. If it is certain that nobody has been exposed to the bat, it should be removed from the house. The best way to do this is to close all the doors and windows to the room except one to the outside. The bat should soon leave.

Due to the risk of rabies and also due to health problems related to their faecal droppings (guano), bats should be excluded from inhabited parts of houses. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention provides full detailed information on all aspects of bat management, including how to capture a bat, what to do in case of exposure, and how to bat-proof a house humanely.^[37] In certain countries, such as the United Kingdom, it is illegal to handle bats without a license.

Where rabies is not endemic, as throughout most of Western Europe, small bats can be considered harmless. Larger bats can give a nasty bite. They should be treated with the respect due to any wild animal.

The Bat in Heraldry

Valencia city's arms.

Valencia Club de Fútbol's crest.

Palma de Mallorca's arms.

Fraga coat of arms.

Burgee of the Royal Valencia Yacht Club.

The bat is sometimes used as a heraldic symbol. The coats of arms of certain cities in eastern Spain, like Valencia, Palma de Mallorca and Fraga have the bat over the shield. Formerly the Barcelona city coat of arms also had a bat crowning it, but the bat has been removed in the present-day versions.

The heraldic use of the bat in Valencia, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands has its origins in a winged dragon (vibra or vibria) that was crowning king James I of Aragon's helmet or cimera reial. This is the most widely accepted theory, although there is also a legend that says that due to the intervention of a bat, king James I was able to win a crucial battle against the Saracens that allowed him to win Valencia for his kingdom.

The use of the bat as a heraldic symbol is prevalent in the territories of the former Crown of Aragon and it is little used elsewhere. However, it can be found in a few p laces, as in the coats of arms of the city of Albacete, in Spain, as well as the town of Montchauvet (Yvelines), in France.

Certain Spanish soccer clubs including Valencia CF and FC Barcelona use bats in their badges.

The Burgee of the Royal Valencia Yacht Club (Reial Club Nàutic de València) displays a bat on a golden field in its center.

Cultural Aspects

The bat is sacred in Tonga and West Africa and is often considered the physical manifestation of a separable soul^{[citation needed]}. Bats are closely associated with vampires, who are said to be able to shapeshift into bats, fog, or wolves. Bats are also a symbol of ghosts, death, and disease. A mong some Native Americans, such as the Creek, Cherokee and Apache, the bat is a trickster spirit.

Bat. Moche Culture 100 A.D. Larco Museum Lima, Peru.

Chinese lore claims the bat is a symbol of longevity and happiness, and is similarly lucky in Poland and geographical Macedonia and among the Kwakiutl and Arabs. The bat is also a heraldic animal of the Spanish autonomous community of Valencia.

Very large bat house, Tallahassee, Florida, United State s

Pre-Columbian cultures associated animals with gods and often displayed them in art. The Moche people depicted bats in their ceramics.^[38]

In Western Culture, the bat is often a symbol of the night and its foreboding nature. The bat is a primary animal associated with fictional characters of the night, both villains like Dracula and heroes like Batman. The association of the fear of the night with the animal was treated as a literary challenge by Kenneth Oppel, who created a best selling series of novels, beginning with Silverwing, which feature bats as the central heroic figures much as anthropomorphized rabbits were the central figures to the classic novel Watership Down.

An old wives' tale has it that bats will entangle themselves in people's hair. One likely source of this belief is that insect-eating bats seeking prey may dive erratically toward people, who attract mosquitoes and gnats, leading the squeamish to believe that the bats are trying to get in their hair.

"Nightwing," a work of art by Dale Whistler located in Austin, Texas, United States

In the United Kingdom all bats are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Acts, and even disturbing a bat or its roost can be punished with a heavy fine.

In Sarawak, Malaysia bats are protected species under the Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998 (see Malaysian Wildlife Law). The large Naked bat (see Mammals of Borneo) and Greater Nectar bat are consumed by the local communities.

Bats can be a tourist attraction. The Congress Avenue Bridge in Austi n, Texas is the summer home to North America's largest urban bat colony, an estimated 1,500,000 Mexican free-tailed bats, which eat an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of insects each night. An estimated 100,000 tourists per year visit the bridge at twilight to watch the bats leave the roost.

Bats in Mesoamerican Mythology

In Mesoamerican mythology during the Classic-Contemporary period, bats symbolized the land of the dead, which was considered to be the underworld[1]. They also symbolized destruction and decay. Bats may have symbolized in this way because they fly only at night and dwell in caves during the daytime and are associated with human skulls and bones by classic Maya ceramists. Central Mexicans sometimes depicted bats having snouts that looked like sacrificial knives and carrying human head in the Postclassic era^[39]. Bat images were engraved onto funerary urns and were emphasized with large claws and round ears by Zapotecs. They were commonly associated with death[2]. The depiction of bats on funeral urns and goods took on some the characteristics of the jaguar which was and still is another entity of the night and the underworld. There have also been instances where bats are portrayed next to other unseemly animals including scorpions and other nocturnal animals such as owls.

A gigantic, life-size ceramic bat-man has been discovered and dug up from the Templo Mayor. The Templo Mayor is located in the center of the Mexica capital of Tenochtitlan. Known as a god of death, this statue has the clawed feet and hands of a bat, but the body of a man. The statue's human-like eyes bulged out from the bat-like head, making the Zapotec images very realistic and living. It was said that in the 1930s the Kaqchikel Maya proclaimed that the bat was the Devil’s provider. Kaqchikel would leave the Devil’s underworld home and collect blood from the animals to be used for scrumptious meals to feed the Devil. “In the myths, the beast of prey and the animal that is preyed upon play two significant roles. They represent two aspects of life—the aggressive, killing, conquering, creating aspect of life, and the one that is the matter or, you might say, the subject matter”^[40]. In the Devil’s underworld, dead sinners would work off their sins in order to get to heaven, indicating that the bat was too a sinner and worked under the authority of the Devil^[41].

In Oaxacan Mythology

Oaxacans believe that the jealousy of the bat in wanting birds' feathers that gently fit their bodies led him to become nocturnal. The bat feeling isolated and undesirable spoke to God after that he complained he was extremely cold. God, fair and just turned to birds in the animal kingdom and asked if they would show compassion and donate a feather to the bat so the feathers would keep him warm. The birds all agreed, and began to pluck one feather from their bodies to give to the bat. With all of the feathers, the bat became much magnificent looking than all birds, even able to spread color to the night sky. During daylight, the bat created rainbows that reflected vibrant colors from the sun. The bat soon became overly arrogant and conceited, due having this new and improved look. The birds grew tired of the bat’s self conceitedness and glorification, and so decided to fly up to heaven and speak to God to do something. The birds informed to God of the bat's behaviour, God was surprised and so decided to take a look himself. When on Earth, God called on the bat to show him what he was doing. The bat began to fly across the light blue sky, where one by one each feather began to fall out, uncovering the bat’s natural ugly looking body. The bat became ashamed and distressed of his appearance after all feathers came off, missing the beautiful, plentiful feathers that he had, that he decided to hide in caves during the day. He would only come out duting the night, searching high and low for the feathers to avoid embarrassment that he will not be seen during his search.^[41]

East Nigerian Mythology

According to a particular East Nigerian tale, the bat developed its nocturnal habits after breaking up the partnership between himself and causing the death of a bush-rat. The bat and the bush-rat would share activities such as rummaging through the grass and trees, hunting, talking and bonding during the day. When at night, the bat and the bush-rat would alternate in cooking duties cooking what was caught, and eat together. It appeared to a dedicated partnership, however the bat hated the bush-rat immensely. The bush rat always found the bat’s soup more appetising so when eating dinner one night asked the bat why the soup tasted better than his own and also asked how it was made. The bat agreed to show him how to make the the next day but instead was forming an malicious plan. Next day as bat prepared his soup, the bush-rat came, greeting him and asked if he could be shown what was agreed yesterday. Earlier, the bat has found a pot looking exactly like the one he used usually, but it held warm water and so decided to use this instead. The bat explained to the bush-rat that to make his soup, he had to boil himself prior to serving the soup where sweetness and flavor of the soup came from the flesh. The bat jumped in the pot seemingly excited, with the bush-rat mesmerised. After a few minutes the bat climbed out and while the bush-rat was distracted, switched pots. The bat then served his soup out of the soup pot, both tasted it. Over anxious and eager, the bush-rat, jumped into the pot of warm water. He stayed much longer in the pot dying in the process. When the bush-rat’s wife returned that night to find her husband dead, she wept and ran to the chief of the land's house telling him about what happened and what she was sure what the bat had done. In hearing this, the chief became angry, ordering for the immediate arrest of the bat. It just so happened that the bat was flying over the house and overheard what was just said. He quickly went into hiding high up in a tree. When the chief’s men went looking for the bat, he could not be found. The search to arrest the bat carried on over several days, but still could not be found. The bat needed to eat, so flew out of hiding every night to hunt for food t o escape of being arrested. This, according to Eastern Nigeria mythology, is why bats only fly at night.^[42].

Artificial Roosts

Many people put up bat houses to attract bats just like many people put up birdhouses to attract birds. Reasons for this vary, but mostly center around the fact that bats are the primary nocturnal insectivores in most if not all ecologies. Bat houses can be made from scratch, made from kits, or bought ready made. Plans for bat houses exist on many web sites, as well as guidelines for designing a bat house^[43]. Some conservation societies are giving away free bat houses to bat enthusiasts worldwide^{[citation needed]}.

A bat house constructed in 1991 at the University of Florida campus next to Lake Alice in Gainesville has a population of over 100,000 free-tailed bats.^[44]

In Britain, pillboxes dating from World War II have been converted to make roosts for bats. Pillboxes that are well dug-in and thick walled are naturally damp and provide a stable thermal environment that is required by bats that would otherwise hibernate in caves. With a few minor modifications, suitable pillboxes can be converted to artificial caves for bats.^[45][46]