Bat how many legs

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For example, the cave myotis, M. Small insects are often caught directly in the mouth, but larger ones are more frequently captured by the wing membrane, transferred and readjusted in the basket formed by the hind legs and the interfemoral membrane, then pulled to the mouth and eaten.

Not all bats seize their prey on the wing. Some specialize in catching land insects like grasshoppers or roaches that are found on the ground, rocks, or trees. In this instance, less energy is required to catch a few large insects than hundreds of tiny moths or gnats. Other bats use their feet to snatch insects from the surface of ponds and lakes. With the exception of three flower-eating species that migrate from Mexico, the bats in the United States are insectivorous.

Those species that eat pollen, nectar, and in some instances, petals from flowers, are found mainly in the tropics and semitropics. Pollen, like insects, is highly nutritious. The flower-eaters are usually small and have long pointed heads, long tongues, and the ability to hover and fly slowly. Fruit and sometimes insects also supplement their diet. Most of the Old World fruit and flower eaters rely on vision and sense of smell to locate food rather than sonar.

Unlike birds, bats are color blind and, therefore, not dependent on color for locating and choosing their food. Many prefer dark green or brown fruits with musty or sour odors instead of the more colorful varieties.

These fruits usually hang from vines or grow from the trunk of a plant unobstructed by heavy tropical foliage.

A few species of bats are carnivorous, eating small frogs, lizards, and birds. Other species are known for their fish-eating habits and are usually specialized by having huge hind feet and claws. The best known of the fish-eating bats is the fishing bulldog bat, Noctilio leporinus , of Central and South America.

How this bat actually finds its food is not completely understood, but many authorities believe that sonar is used to detect ripples on the water made by the fish.

It catches its prey with large hooked claws, spears the fish with its canine teeth, gathers it up in the wing membrane, bites through the skull and eats it, all in a matter of seconds. Although there is little scientific data on the subject, observations by naturalists in the field seem to support the fact that some bats swim in stressful situations but that it is not normally part of their ordinary behavior patterns.

For example, flying foxes, often island inhabitants, may have to fly long distances to obtain food. A forced landing or a foray over water to collect fruit which has dropped and floated there may necessitate an unexpected swim. Photographs of the flying fox, Pteropus giganteus , show the animal actually swimming, using its wings and feet to reach land rather than floating or paddling. Many questions received by the Museum concern the vampire bat. Because the true vampire bat of Central and South America feeds on blood, a popular misconception has been to link it to the human vampire legend.

The Eastern European tale of a vampire, a corpse that came back to life and sucked blood from the neck of its human victim, dates back to the Middle Ages.

In fact, there are no vampire bats native to Europe or Asia; they were not even known to exist before the 's when explorers visited the New World and observed their unusual eating habits. Indeed, the bat was named for the legend rather than the legend originating with the bat.

The vampire bat feeds mainly on the blood of cattle, horses, and wild mammals such as deer and peccaries. It seldom bites humans. When feeding it chooses to land near a hairless area of thin skin -- perhaps the hoof or shoulder of the animal -- hop or walk cautiously to a likely spot, lick it, then make a small incision and lap the animal's blood.

The harm from such bites arises not from the amount of blood lost, which is relatively small, but rather from the exposure of the livestock to secondary infections, parasites, and the transmission of viral-borne diseases such as rabies. Rabies occurs naturally in many wild animals.

Actually, a higher incidence of the disease is found in skunks and foxes than in bats. In the United States the rate of occurrence is so small, barely a fraction of a percent, that there is very little danger to humans. Though experiments have shown that theoretically rabies is a virus that can be air-borne or transmitted through contact with infected bat urine, there is not one documented case of a human contracting the disease this way.

Bat bites of humans are uncommon and rabies in humans resulting from such bites is extremely rare. But, bats can harbor the rabies virus and, therefore, should be handled with caution. The greatest incidence of rabies occurs in the large vampire bat populations found in South America. Here the danger is not so much to the human population but rather to the livestock exposed to bat bites.

In South America a major economic problem existed when large numbers of cattle were lost to rabies and infection. An effort to control and eradicate the vampire bat was initiated in by the Agency for International Development in cooperation with the Mexican government. The U. Fish and Wildlife Service was assigned the task of studying its habits to obtain some clues for its control.

Using several different methods of nighttime surveillance, observation of the bat's grooming behavior provided the answer. Bats are extremely clean, sometimes grooming, licking, and scratching themselves for hours. The vampire bat, in particular, grooms both itself and its neighbors intensively. A paste-like anticoagulant poison that causes internal bleeding in the bat was smeared on likely areas, fetlocks or shoulders, of cattle that had been bitten.

Vampire bats usually return to their victims for more food, so when they attack again, they come in contact with the poison. Back at the roost in the process of grooming, they ingest and spread the poison with the subsequent death of a large percentage of the colony. The treatment is specific for the vampire bat; no other species is affected, and the anticoagulant does not appear to hurt the livestock even when injected directly into the stomach.

At the present time, the poison is being used successfully in Mexico, Central and South America. In others, such as molossids and rhinopomatids, the tail extends considerably beyond the edge of the membrane. These species seem to use the tail for "feeling" their way as they back into crevices. In yet other groups, the tail is shorter than the membrane, and in some e.

A few bats appear to lack tails altogether. To cite this page: Myers, P. Espinosa, C. Parr, T. Jones, G. Hammond, and T. The Animal Diversity Web online. Disclaimer: The Animal Diversity Web is an educational resource written largely by and for college students. ADW doesn't cover all species in the world, nor does it include all the latest scientific information about organisms we describe. Though we edit our accounts for accuracy, we cannot guarantee all information in those accounts.

While ADW staff and contributors provide references to books and websites that we believe are reputable, we cannot necessarily endorse the contents of references beyond our control. Bat Wings and Tails Facebook. Contributors Phil Myers author. References Hill, J. Smith, Bats: A Natural History. University of Texas Press, Austin.