BATS. A Creativity Book For Young Conservationists BY JANE F. G. JENNINGS DRAWINGS BY LAURA A. HOEHN. P.O. Box Austin, Texas 78716

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BATS A Creativity Book For Young Conservationists BY JANE F. G. JENNINGS DRAWINGS BY LAURA A. HOEHN P.O. Box 162603 Austin, Texas 78716 Photos Merlin D.

3 BATS A Creativity Book For Young Conservationists BY JANE F. G. JENNINGS DRAWINGS BY LAURA A. HOEHN P.O. Box Austin, Texas Photos Merlin D. Tuttle, Bat Conservation International Special Thanks to Janet Tyburec for Research Copyright Bat Conservation International. All rights reserved. 1

The Spotted Bat Howdy! My name is Euderma maculatum, but my friends back home in the American Southwest call me Spotted Bat. Iʼm a mammal just like you.

4 The Spotted Bat Howdy! My name is Euderma maculatum, but my friends back home in the American Southwest call me Spotted Bat. Iʼm a mammal just like you. Only I come from the Order Chiroptera, which means hand-wing. I have a black-and-white, furry body AND wings for my hands. Each of my wings has four fingers and a thumb. Bats are pretty amazing creatures. We are the only mammals that can truly fly. We sleep upside down during the day and find our food during the night. Notice my incredible ears? They give me super hearing so I can use a type of sonar, called echolocation, to find my food: mouth-watering moths. But bats come in many different shapes and colors. Just take a look at some of the wild faces on my other bat friends. 2

Bat Names and Faces There are more than 1,200 different kinds of bats in the world and they come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Match the unusual bat faces with their names.

5 Bat Names and Faces There are more than 1,200 different kinds of bats in the world and they come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Match the unusual bat faces with their names. 1 Crested Free-tailed Bat (Chaerephon chapini) Known for its Punk look. 2 Sword-nosed Bat (Lonchorhina aurita) A Latin American bat with a long, pointed leaf on its nose. 3 Hammer-headed Flying Fox (Hypsignathus monstrosus) A fruit bat from Africa with a very unusual head. 4 Spotted Bat (Euderma maculatum) A very colorful U.S. bat; black with white spots and large, pink ears. 3

6 Bat Droodles Look at the droodles. Turn each one into a type of bat or bat-related drawing. 4

7 Eeney, Meeney, Miney, Moe... If you could be a bat, which one would you choose to be and why? Fruit Bat (Epomophorus gambianus) Fishing Bat (Noctilio leporinus) Nectar Bat (Glossophaga soricina) I would be a Insect-eating Bat (Antrozous pallidus) because Frog-eating Bat (Trachops cirrhosus) 5

8 Echolocation Adaptation If humans could echolocate, what might our ears look like? Draw them on the heads below. 6

9 Topsy Turvy What do you think you would look like to a hanging bat? Draw what the bat would see. 7

10 Favorite Food Fun Bats have specific adaptations to help them find their food. Bats with long noses are perfect for feeding on nectar from flowers. Big ears and long tails help bats find and catch insects. Large eyes and noses can help find ripe fruit. Big feet can drag through the water to catch fish. Match the bats with their favorite food. 1 A Flying Fox (Epomophorus wahlbergi) 2 Fishing Bat (Noctilio Leporinus) B 3 Nectar Bat (Choeronycteris mexicana) C 4 Insect-eating Bat (Antrozous pallidus) D 5 Frog-eating Bat (Trachops cirrhosus) 8 E

11 Yummy Math An insectivorous bat can catch up to 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour. If it ate mosquitoes for two hours each night, how many could it catch in a week? Do your figuring in the boxes below. 1 Week (7days) 1 Month (4 weeks) 1 Summer (3 months) At those rates, how many mosquitoes could an average-sized colony of 200 little brown bats eat? 1 Week (7days) 1 Month (4 weeks) 1 Summer (3 months) If you could eat 1,0 00 of something in one hour, what would it be? Can you come up with a list? 9

12 Bat Maze Create a maze and help this nectar-eating bat find the flower. Try your maze out on a friend. START FINISH 10

13 Mexican Free-tailed Bat Hola! Tadarida brasiliensis aqui. Call me a Mexican Free-tailed Bat if you will. Iʼm a speedster because of my long, narrow wings and have been clocked riding the wind at 60 miles per hour. I take the high road when I travel and can fly at 10,000 feet above the ground. Sometimes itʼs tricky to outmaneuver airplanes. I donʼt need to hibernate because Iʼve found warm wintering caves in Mexico and Central America where thereʼs plenty to eat. When millions of us live in a single cave, we have to work hard to find the 100 or more tons of insects we eat each night. But itʼs always great to come back to Austin, Texas, where I can hang out with my friends under the Congress Avenue Bridge. Adios! 11

14 100, Maybe? How many words can you find in FREE-TAILED BAT? 12

15 Dear Diary... Write a diary entry for a day in the life of a bat. 13

16 Comic Decisions Put yourself in a batʼs place and think about what decisions you might have to make. Illustrate in cartoon format and remember to put your words or thoughts into cartoon bubbles. Daytime Decisions Nighttime Decisions 14

17 The Year of the Bat If you were a bat, what would be your favorite thing to do during each of the seasons of the year? SPRING SUMMER FALL 15 WINTER

18 Bat World Geography Bats can be found on every continent of the world except Antarctica. Some bats live within a few miles of the Arctic Circle. Match the following bats with their continents by writing the number of the batʼs description in the circle of its continent. 1 Fisherman Bat (Noctilio leporinus): A bright orange bat from Latin America 2 Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus): One of the most common North American bats 3 Gray-headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus): An Australian fruit- and nectar-eating bat 4 Hammerhead Flying Fox (Hypsignathus monstrosus): A flying fox from Africa 5 Greater Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum): A European insect-eating bat 6 Asian False-vampire Bat (Megaderma spasma): A bat from Southeast Asia that eats insects and small reptiles 16

19 The Little Brown Bat Hi kids! Iʼm a Little Brown Bat or Myotis lucifugus. Iʼm probably the most abundant bat in North America. In the summer, I like to live in buildings, especially hot attics. Thatʼs when I set up the maternity colony with other brown bats for all the new babies. In the winter, I hibernate in caves or mines where the temperature stays just right. Itʼs hard to find places where I wonʼt be disturbed. Usually I choose a home or roosting place that is near a water source. That makes it easy to get a drink and find lots of insects to eat. Did you know that I can catch up to 1,000 mosquitoes in just one hour? I also like moths, mayflies and beetles. Yum! So look for me in the evening sky. 17

20 Save the Cave! Create a dialogue between a developer who wants to close a cave and a bat who lives there. You are the bat trying to convince the developer that saving your home is important. Developer: Bat: Developer: Bat: Developer: Bat: End Result: 18

21 Feelings What words do you think would best describe the feelings of a bat emerging from a long winterʼs sleep?

22 Prediction Consider what might happen if a bat flew into your home. Draw and explain the results. Now you are the bat. Consider what might happen if a human walked into your cave during hibernation. Draw and explain the results. 20

23 Grey-headed Flying fox Iʼm a foxy-looking bat called Pteropus poliocephalus, the Grey-headed Flying Fox. I live in the tropical forests of Australia and enjoy eating figs and other fruits. I squeeze out the juice and then spit out the seeds to plant new trees. I also pollinate plants when I feast on the nectar of flowers. We Grey-headed Flying Foxes are very lucky to have a special preserve in Australia just for bats. We even have human bat moms to help take care of injured and orphaned bats so they can return to the forest. Thanks, Mom! 21

24 Bat Bodies A Grey-headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus) with a 12-inch body has a wingspan of four feet. Given the same proportions, draw the arms on this four-foot-tall human child. 22

25 Analogies Complete the given analogy chart and fill in those not given. 23

Benefits of Bats Iʼm Carollia perspicillata, a Short-tailed Fruit Bat. I have a very important job where I live in the rain forests of South and Central America.

26 Benefits of Bats Iʼm Carollia perspicillata, a Short-tailed Fruit Bat. I have a very important job where I live in the rain forests of South and Central America. I eat ripe fruit and then scatter the seeds as I fly. In one night, I can spread 60,000 seeds. This helps to replant forest areas that have been cut down. Well, Iʼm pretty important, too. Iʼm Leptonycteris curasoae, a Lesser Long-nosed Bat. My special long nose fits perfectly into cactus flowers. When I feed on nectar, my nose gets covered with pollen. Since cacti canʼt walk, I take the pollen from one flower to another to help pollinate the plants. I have long ears and beautiful cream-colored fur. Iʼm Antrozous pallidus, a Pallid Bat. I can listen for the softest footfall of walking insects like grasshoppers, scorpions, crickets or centipedes. They are very tasty, and I keep insect populations under control. And I, Desmodus rotundus, the Vampire Bat, am important to the medical profession. My saliva contains a chemical that is used to help treat humans with heart disease. Donʼt forget about me, Eptesicus fuscus, the Big Brown Bat. A colony of 150 big brown bats can protect farmers from up to 18 million rootworms each year. Thatʼs a big savings to farmers. 24

27 Dear Editor... You have decided to write to the editor of your local newspaper to educate the community you live in about the importance of bats. 25

28 Bat Rap Create a bat rap song in comic book format. 26

29 Goldilocks and the Three Bats Rewrite the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears as Goldilocks and the Three Bats. 27

30 Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do Compose your own song about the benefits of bats by using the melody of a well-known song. For example, instead of Row, row, row your boat... it could be, Bat, bat, bat your wings, gently in the night... 28

31 Design a Bat Stamp After designing your stamp, address your letter to someone you would like to tell about bats. Write what you would tell them. 29

32 Don t Touch! Well, as you can see, bats are pretty incredible creatures. While you are sound asleep in your bed at night, weʼre busy catching insects, pollinating flowers and dispersing seeds. But remember that although weʼre very cute, we are WILD animals and should NEVER be touched. If you should find a bat on the ground, it may be sick and should always be left alone. Keep up your bat conservation work and tell everyone about the importance of BATS! Answers Bat Names and Faces Favorite Food Fun Yummy Math 3 1C 1 week 14, D 1 month 56, E 1 summer 168, A 1 week 2,800,000 5 B 1 month 11,200,000 1 summer 33,600,000 30

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Mammal Only flying mammal Small. Nocturnal Live in caves Eat insects and fruit Live in caves. wildirdarden.inc.

Mammal Only flying mammal Small Nocturnal Live in caves Eat insects and fruit Live in caves wildirdarden.inc http://www.flowstonenews.com Blind Vampires Fly into hair Dirty Carry rabies Mice Big Brown