27th August: International Bat Night

The last full weekend in August is designated as International Bat Night. Bat Night began in 1997 and is now held in over thirty countries to raise awareness of the needs and benefits of bats in nature.

Despite what movies and novels may portray, bats play a crucial role in maintaining natural balance. They eat insects that spread disease and harm crops. Little brown bats, which are prevalent in Kansas, use echolocation to consume over 1,000 mosquitos in a single hour. Bats aid in the distribution of plants by transmitting seeds through their excrement. The primary mechanism in tropical rainforest reforestation is the dissemination of Guano seeds by bats.

The expression “blind as a bat” comes from the assumption that a bat’s sense of sight isn’t very good. However, bats have much better vision than humans do and see incredibly well both day and night. The expression “blind as a bat” comes from this assumption. Bats emit a high pitched sound that resonates and bounces off of objects around them, this echolocation (sort of like sonar) helps bats pinpoint the exact location of insects and grab their dinner on the go.