Bats!

I love bats - they are so cool. Bats are a lot like people. Both people and bats eat fruit and other animals, take good care of their babies, and have different colors of hair like red, black, brown and gray. My favorite thing about bats is that they can two and a half times their body weight in insects every NIGHT! Go bats!

Bats have a spooky reputation in part because they are excellent fliers. They can swoop and dive in crazy patterns as they try to get their dinner. Vampire bats don't help the bad bat rep either. Vampire bats live in Central America and lick blood rather than suck it. They have sharp lips that make a small cut on the leg of an animal and they drink the blood.

Bats not only can eat loads of bugs, but many bats pollinate plants that we eat like mangos, peaches, and avocados.

Science words: mammal, insectivore, frugivorous, echolocation, nocturnal

Mammal – animals with fur, live young they nurse
Insectivore – an animal that eats insects
Frugivorous – an animal that only eats fruit
Echolocation – using sound waves to locate objects
Nocturnal – an animal that is active at night

Bat food – Bats pollinate lots of plants we eat. Some of them are figs, avocados, bananas, peaches, and mangos. They also pollinate chocolate! Eat a meal that was brought to you by a bat!

Bat headbands – bats have all sorts of ears. Look at pictures of bats and their ears. Make your own set of bat ears

Stellaluna – Stellaluna gets separated from her mother. This is a good story to talk about a plan for what you might do if you were separated. What would you do if you were separated from your mother? Would you eat bugs if a stranger offered you food?

Bats Are Sleeping
(Tune: Frere Jacques)
Bats are sleeping,
Bats are sleeping,
Upside down,
Upside down.
Sleeping in the morning.
Waiting for the night to come.
To fly around.
To fly around.

Favorite Books on Bats
Stellaluna – Jannell Cannon
Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats by Anne Earl