BAT FACTS

• Bats are the only mammals to truly fly
• One in 4 mammals are bats (worldwide and in Arizona); only rodents are more diverse (one in two mammals are rodents)
• Wingspans range from six inches (15cm) (bumblebee bat) to six feet (183cm) (flying fox)
  • In Tucson, we have both the smallest bat (Western Pipistrelle) and the largest bat (Western Mastiff Bat -- Eumops perotis) in the U.S.
• Colors range from white to yellow to orange to red to brown to blue-gray to black
• Diets include blood (not in Arizona!), bats, birds, rodents, frogs, lizards, fish, scorpions, insects, leaves, nectar, pollen, and fruit.
• Bats catch their prey in the air, off the ground, from plants, and even gaff them out of water
• Bats are not blind -- they have good eyesight -- and do not get tangled in hair (they are just flying close to get the gnats and mosquitoes zeroing in on you).
• Bats play critical ecological and economical roles (e.g., by eating tons of insects and pollinating and dispersing seeds of plants)
• Yet, sadly, bats are among the most threatened land mammals in North America, with over half the species either listed as threatened or endangered or candidates to become listed

For more, see the excellent site, Bat Conservation International, Inc.