Bat Facts

Check out our range of fun bat facts for kids. Learn how they see in the dark, what they eat and mate. Share your knowledge with your friends or family! Read on!

• Vampire bats are one of the only mammals known to feed on blood.

• Approximately 70% of bats eat insects. The rest are frugivores, or fruit eaters.

• Bats lifespan is 30 years.

• A group of bats is called a “colony.”
  

  Bats are the only flying mammals!

• Bat can fly at speeds reaching 60 mph.

• A bat’s echolocation is so tuned that it can detect objects as thin as a human hair.

• Most bats have large ears which give them excellent hearing.

• Bats can eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes in an hour.

• To sleep, bats hang upside down so they can fly away quickly if needed.

• Most bats have only one pup a year, making them extremely vulnerable to extinction.

• Bat droppings, called guano, are one of the richest fertilizers.

• During the U.S. civil war, bat droppings were used to make gunpowder.

• The world’s largest bat is the “flying fox” that lives on islands in the South Pacific.

• The world’s smallest bat is the bumble bee bat of Thailand, which is smaller than a thumbnail and weighs less than a penny.

Check out some interesting facts about birds!