Kids > Honduran Ghost
Bat
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Ghost bats are flying mammals. They are two and a half inches long, and
they weigh only five grams, about as much as three pennies.
- Ghost bats are
furry white all over, except for their wings, which are naked and pale gray. They have yellow leaf noses and small, pointed ears. Their knees and feet are pink.
- Like all bats, ghosts are
nocturnal--they forage and eat at night and sleep all day long.
- Ghosts have good
eyesight, a powerful sense of
smell, and keen
hearing.
- To "see" in the dark they use
echolocation. They make high squeaks that echo when they hit objects. Bats judge the size and distance of objects by the time it takes the echoes to return.
- Ghost bats eat
fruit, pollen, flowers, and sometimes insects. One of their favorite foods is the fruit of fig trees.
- Hungry bats feast on
figs, and in fifteen or twenty minutes they defecate the fruits' tiny seeds. Because they defecate while flying, they spread fig seeds all over the forest. Fig seeds have to be eaten before they can sprout.
- The special connection between figs and bats is called
mutualism. Figs rely on bats to eat and spread their seeds; bats rely on figs for food.
- Mutualism is a kind of
symbiosis. Symbiosis is a scientific word for "living together."
- The bat-fig symbiosis works well, and bats are important
tree planters. Figs and bats help restore forests that have been burned or logged.
-
Owls and other meat-eating birds,
possums, and
snakes eat ghost bats.
- Ghost bats hang upside down and sleep in
tents that they make by chewing the mid-ribs of big leaves. The leaves droop in the shape of a long pup tent. One male, several females, and their pups live in a tent. White fur reflects green leaves--so bats in tents are camouflaged.
- Ghost bat
wings are not like bird wings. In fact, they
are like human hands with thin skin between the fingers. Bats' thumbs
are separate from their wings, and they use them for climbing.
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