This is Miss Fetsko’s Class book about bats. Bats can see in the dark. They have five fingers on each wing. They have to keep flapping their wings to fly. Bats fly in big groups and its like they are having a meeting.  Bats hook their claws and hang upside-down when they are asleep. The back claws are used to grip their roosts and catch food.  You need to look really quickly because bats move fast. They have little thumbs that look like hooks.  Bats hang themselves as a raincoat and as a blanket. A megabat’s wings are longer than you can stretch your arms.  Bats have a sharp thumb claw to hang upside-down.  Some bats can swim, crawl and hop.  Bats have finger bones in their wings and arm bones. Some people think bats are blind, but they have eyes.  Bats can’t walk because their legs are too fragile. Their wings are very thin.  Some bats have sharp teeth.  Bat’s wings are very delicate and fragile.  To catch a bat, pick it up by its feet.  Their muscles help them fly.  Bats have really thin bones to help them fly. Bats wings have five fingers.

There are more than 1,000 kinds of bats in the world. Little brown bats can live up to 20 years.  The bulldog bat eats fish.  Microbats like to eat insects.  Owls eat brown bats. Vampire bats are not dangerous to people. But they suck the blood of cows and horses.  Vampire bats bite cows and suck their blood.  Vampire bats are named after vampires.  There is one type of bat that is as small as a bee. The smallest bat is named bumblebee bat.  Some bats are big and some bats are small.  A microbat is little.  A mother brown bat weighs less than a pencil.  The largest bat is called a flying fox.  Its wings are as big as a Canadian goose’s wings. A microbat is lighter than a penny. 

Echolocation is when a bat makes a squeak and the sound bounces off an insect and comes back to the bat.  Bats can hear from far away with echolocation. If a bat gets into your house you can open a door or window.  The bat uses echolocation to find the way out.  Bats have big ears to hear echoes bounce off of objects.  Bats use clicking sounds and echolocation to find their prey.  They can find their way through a maze of tree branches.  Bats can see in the dark and not bump into any trees. 

A roost is a place where bats like to rest and hang upside-down.  Some people make bat houses so the bats have a place to roost.  They pick a roost that has a small opening. Other animals cannot get in the small opening.  People make bat houses because other people cut down trees.  Some scientists protect bats by making bat houses.  Bat colonies are lots of bats living in families.  People are getting rid of places bats like to live. Some of them are endangered and can die out. People save the bats in nets and bat houses.  There are 45 different types of microbats living in North America.  Bats live in forests, cities, fields, and deserts. Bats live in trees and caves and under bridges. Bats do not live in Antarctica or on tops of mountains. They can be found everywhere except Antarctica.  Little brown bats live in the country.  Vampire bats live in Mexico and South America.  Brown bats live in North America. Some bats die because people kill them.  Megabats do not live in North America.  Big brown bats live in the city. 

In China they paint red bats because red is the color of joy and good luck. 

Bats are very clean animals.  Bats like to be clean.  They do not like pollution.  Bats and cats both clean their ears with their claws and tongues.  In the early morning bats clean dust off of themselves with their tongues. 

Bats sleep upside-down during the day. If you go in a cave when bats are hibernating, you will wake them up.  If the bats wake up they use more of their fat, then they can starve before spring when they can hunt again.  If you wake up a bat in winter it will starve because there are no bugs.  When bats hibernate they get cold.  They have to stay together to get warm.  Bats hibernate in colonies so they stay warm.  In a barn, bats squeeze together to enjoy the comfort of other bats around them.  Thousands of bats go back to the same cave every year.  Bats hearts beat slower and they breathe slower when they hibernate.  Bats come out of the cave after they open their eyes and stretch their wings.  Migration means bats fly somewhere where it is warm for the winter.  Some bats migrate in the winter.  When people come in a cave where bats hibernate, they may kill bats by mistake. 

Bats have powerful teeth to catch prey.  Bats suck nectar. A bat can eat 3,000 insects in 1 hour.  Bats have big teeth and eat frogs.  They like to eat insects or fruit.  Some bats eat fruit. Bats eat mosquitoes and other bugs.  Bats eat the insects that eat farmers’ crops.  Bats can catch insects with their wings.  They carry pollen from flowers just like bees. Some bats suck the juices out of flowers.  Bats help people because they eat pests like mosquitoes.  The bats eat fruit and drop the seeds in the soil so new fruit trees will grow.  Bats hit bugs with their wings then scoop the bugs into their mouths with their tails.  A bat can eat 600 bugs in one hour!  Some bats eat mosquitoes and flies.  Bats eat insects that bite people.  Megabats like to eat fruit. Bats hang upside-down so they can let go quickly and fly away.  Bats move their wings to turn to catch bugs.  Bats fly at night to get the best meals.  Bats are the only mammal that gives milk to their pups. 

The wings have no fur on them.  Bats have no feathers but birds do. Bats have fur. Bats are not in the bird family even though they can fly. 

Pups are baby bats. Pups are only born when it’s warm and there is lots of food available.  Bats eyes are closed when they are born.  Baby bats get ready to fly by hanging upside down and flapping their wings.  If you see pups in a cave leave quietly and fast.  You may scare the mother who will never come back.  The pups may die.  It takes three weeks for baby bats to fly.  It takes one month for a pup to grow as big as its mother.  The baby bat holds on to its mom’s fur to stay secure.  Baby bats grow for two months inside their mothers.  Newborn pups are born without fur.  The mother bat can always find her baby because it uses the sense of smell.  Pups stay together when mother bats go searching for food.  A mother bat has one pup each year.  A mother bat hangs right side up then forms a bowl to make her baby come out.  A bat can fly in an empty barn to be with other pregnant bats to give birth.  The body clings to mother’s stomach when she flies. 

Bats don’t want to attack people.  Bats can bite you if you do something they don’t like.  People can hold little bats.  Bats are lovable and cute.  People who watch bats can hear their wings fluttering.  Some people think bats can land in people’s hair, but bats don’t like to land in people’s hair.  People think bats are scary, but they are gentle. 

Batman can fly in his suit like bats can.  He is a man who is named after a bat.  Batman is a good guy.  He is a bat and a man.  Batman’s cape looks like bat wings.  His cape is shaped like bat wings.  Batman is named Batman because the creator of him liked bats.  The author of Batman comics tries to find nonfiction books about bats. 

The End