BATS

Bats are very important for the ecosystem as they are pollinators like bees. Bats help with the pollination of many types of fruit in the world. 1. .......... Experts believe that bats play a huge role in pollination of over 500 different types of tropical plants every single year. Bats are the only mammals that can fly. Common fears about bats make many people think that bats are unclean disease carriers, but bats are actually very helpful in controlling the population of crop-destroying insects. There are about 1100 species of bats in the world. Bats live all over the world, except for some islands, and the Arctic and Antarctica. 2. .......... Bats have two strategies when it is cold. Some of them fly to warmer areas, while others go into torpor, which means being less active during the winter. In this short-term form of hibernation, sleeping through the winter months, a bat lowers its body temperature, and slows its breathing and heart rate. Bats live in trees, caves, mines and barns—anyplace that provides shelter from the weather, and protection from predators. Bats live together in groups called colonies, which contain 100 to 1,000 bats. These mammals are also nocturnal, meaning that they sleep during the day and are awake at night. 3. .......... Most bats eat flowers, small insects, fruits, nectar, pollen and leaves. 4. .......... Megabats usually eat fruits, and microbats generally eat insects. Vampire bats drink blood, mainly from cattle and deer.