What are the characteristics of bats' living habits?

Bats are the only mammals capable of flapping flight, and they can navigate and hunt using sound waves. They are nocturnal and generally live in groups. In temperate regions they migrate in winter, and they mainly roost in caves, tree hollows and forests. Bats have a very wide range of diets, and most bats feed on fruit or nectar. They generally have the habit of hibernating, but their hibernation is not deep, and during hibernation they still excrete and feed.

I. Reproduction

Their reproductive capacity is not high, and they exhibit “delayed fertilization”, meaning that mating before hibernation does not result in fertilization; the sperm overwinters in the female's reproductive tract, and only after waking from hibernation the following spring does the mated female begin to ovulate and fertilize, then become pregnant and give birth. Bats reproduce once a year, with a gestation period of 2-6 months, and give birth to one pup at a time. In summer, the female bat gives birth to a fairly fully developed young. The newborn is covered in fine fur, clings firmly to its mother's chest with its claws to suckle, and will not fall off even while the mother is flying.

II. Diet

The diet of bats is quite varied: some species prefer nectar and fruit, some like to eat fish, frogs and insects, some feed on animal blood, and some even eat other bats. Generally speaking, the large bat species feed mainly on fruit or nectar, while most small bat species feed mainly on insects. Many bats distributed in the tropics and subtropics feed on plant fruit, and they eat a great deal. About 70% of bats prey on insects; they usually emit ultrasound to locate their prey and mostly hunt in the air. Bats are very agile when hunting prey. High-speed photography has revealed that some bats catch prey directly with their mouths, some intercept prey with their wings and bring it to their mouths, and some use their tail membrane like a spoon to scoop insects into their mouths; their hunting methods are very diverse. Bats eat a large quantity of insects, consuming about one third of their own body weight in insects each night.

There are very few carnivorous bats. Perhaps two species of false vampire bats often prey on rodents, small birds, frogs and lizards, but little is known about their behavior, and it cannot be determined whether they actively hunt. Some bats fish, and the Mexican bulldog bat can catch more than 30 small fish in one night.

The only fish-eating bats are the Mexican bulldog bat, the Sonoran myotis and the large-footed myotis. Fish-eating bats are characterized by long legs, large feet and sharp hook-shaped claws on their toes. When hunting they usually stay close to the water surface, using ultrasound to detect the splashes made by small fish, and seize the opportunity to grab their prey with their feet.

Nectar-feeding bats are similar to hummingbirds in their living habits. They have evolved features suited to feeding on nectar, such as a long, slender snout, a greatly reduced lower jaw, and a slender, highly extensible tongue. While feeding on nectar, bats also pollinate plants, especially some plants that bloom at night (such as the calabash tree, cacti and so on).

III. Hibernation

Bats generally have the habit of hibernating. Starting in autumn, bats accumulate a layer of fat on their lower abdomen, and before hibernation their body weight becomes more than 1.5 times that of summer. During hibernation their metabolism slows, they breathe and their heart beats only a few times per minute, blood flow slows, and body temperature drops to match the ambient temperature, but the hibernation is not deep; during hibernation they sometimes still excrete and feed, and after waking they can immediately return to normal.

Bats generally rarely appear in cities, and most bats do not feed on blood, so do not be afraid if you encounter a bat. Bats generally live in quiet places and rarely attack humans on their own.