[neilep (OP)]

Hiya Peeps,

Every night at dusk, we have some little bats that fly about catching moths etc...

but how do bats (and other blind animals/mammals) know the time of day ?

Thanks

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!

[ukmicky]

but bats are not blind, they have working eyes just like you and me

[neilep (OP)]

quote:Originally posted by ukmicky

but bats are not blind, they have working eyes just like you and me

really ?..do they not even have poor eyesight ?....so where does the phrase 'blind as a bat come from'......cripes !!..I'm a right ignorant so and so !...and what's the point of their radar thingy then ?

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!

[ukmicky]

some have really good eye sight some not so good
but they hunt at night where eyesight isnt of much use
which is why they have evolved radar it lets them hear where there prey is through echo location

[neilep (OP)]

DOH !!..it's so obvious now..Thanks Mickey !!...and there I was thinking they had alarm calls when it was time to go get din dins !...cheers

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!

[sharkeyandgeorge]

bats and all animals have a biological clock we have one to but its farless accurate ever woken up five minutes before the alarm goes off on an important day... thats the clock

Giggidy Giggidy Goo
The philosopher Q man

[ukmicky]

its a natural reaction to day light.
back in the days when we ran wild it could be dangerous to be asleep when the sun came up and so what happens is your body senses daylight (you do not need to be awake and alert for your body to sense it) and then releases chemicals into your body
and part of your bodies response to those chemicals is to wake you up.

[Ultima]

If you were blind I imagine you could tell by the temperature, smell and less sound than during the day.

wOw the world spins?

[ukmicky]

one more interesting fact regarding bats.

Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.

[David Sparkman]

Hmmm didn't know about the left turn. Bats do have eyes. I have held and petted them, but with gloves on. Bats hunt at night because birds of prey can't find them in the dark, and they are closely related to mice, so all kinds of large birds would find them eatable.

if you ever find yourself in a large bat flight, sit down close to the ground and hold something hard up next to your head (flashlight, cigarette lighter etc. They can echo locate off of something hard better than they can off of your Big Hair (southern term) or a soft hat.

Bats are dangerous because rabies doesn't always kill them, and from 5 to 15% of some american bat populations have survived and are carriers of rabies. There is even a slight chance of infection from fresh bat quano and urine. Our caving club in college took rabies vaccine just to be sure as several caves we frequented had 200k+ bat populations.

David

[ukmicky]

I saw a film about bats.
Animals like raccoons would go into thier caves looking for baby bats that had fallen to the ground.
But the floor of the cave was covered with these  bugs that lived in the quano, and They would eat the animals that came in alive , a raccoon sized animal would be gone within a 3 to 4 hours.
So not a nice place to go unless you have a body to get rid of.

[neilep (OP)]

quote:Originally posted by ukmicky


So not a nice place to go unless you have a body to get rid of.

Well there you go then...that answer belongs in the ' what to do with a corpse thread ' or whatever it's called.

But why do they turn left only when exiting the cave ?...don't suppose you'll find many bat caves with a brick wall left of the exit then ?....cos that would be silly and not right ![]



Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!

[memasa]

Interestingly mantises (or mantes) have ultrasonic hearing which helps them to dodge bats. Mantises' auditory organ is located in their chest.

[gsmollin]

quote:Originally posted by ukmicky

So not a nice place to go unless you have a body to get rid of.

I just got a great idea for a CSI screenplay!

"F = ma, E = mc^2, and you can't push a string."

[Broca]

Is that why we should listen to our heart?  ;-)

[sharkeyandgeorge]

supposition over friends i just learned that parts of the bat colony wake up constantly and check outside to see how the light is if its dark enough even just overcast during the day they wake up the rest of the colony and go hunting


Giggidy Giggidy Goo
The philosopher Q man

[Monox D. I-Fly]

if you ever find yourself in a large bat flight, sit down close to the ground and hold something hard up next to your head (flashlight, cigarette lighter etc. They can echo locate off of something hard better than they can off of your Big Hair (southern term) or a soft hat.

Huh? In Detective Conan it was said that all you have to do if you are attacked by bats is stay still and they will get past you. Is that false?