Bats (orderChiroptera)form one of the largest groups of mammals, only outnumbered, with respect to species numbers, by rodents.Living bats are categorized into two main groups, each with its own distinct features. The Megachiroptera, or "large bats" group includes one family. The Microchiroptera, or "small bats" group includes all the rest of the bats.

 

Appearance

Bats are the only mammals that can fly. Chiroptera comes from the Greek roots cheiro (hand) and ptera (wing), named for the similarity of a bat wing to a hand. Bat wings are long arms, hands and extra-long finger bones that are covered with a double layer of thin skin called a membrane. The membrane is thin enough that light can shine through it. The membrane contains blood vessels, nerves, and muscles. In some bats, a membrane extends between the legs and encloses the tail. Some bats have tails that extend past the membrane and others have no tails. In most bats, the thumbs are free from the membrane. These thumbs have claws and are often used for climbing up trees or other structures.

Bat membranes are tough and flexible, allowing bats to move their wings much like people move their fingers. Changing the shape of their wings allows bats to turn and maneuver quickly. Some bats can hover in the air while others glide. When it is cold, the bats fold their wings around themselves. When it is warm, bats flap their wings to cool themselves.

Bats range widely in size, yet the majority of bats weigh less than 1 ounce (25 grams). The largest bat is the Malayan flying fox, which can have a wingspan of 6 feet (1.8 meters) and weigh 3.3 pounds (1.5 kilograms). The smallest bats are the Kitti's hog-nosed bats, also called «bumblebee bats», of Thailand, with a wingspan of 6 inches (15 centimeters) and a weight of about 0.07 ounces (2 grams), less than a penny.

Like other mammals, bats are warm-blooded and fur covers their body. Megachiroptera are characterized by large eyes, small ears, and dog-like snouts. Most Microchiroptera species are characterized by wide, extended ears and odd shaped noses. Bats have weak legs and do not walk long distances. Their feet are small with sharp claws on each toe. Bats use their claws to hold the weight of their body when they hang upside down, which is their normal resting position.

Distribution

Bats live on every continent on Earth except Antarctica and some remote islands. Most bats live in the tropics and species are most numerous around the equator.

Diet

While the most famous bats are the vampire bats, known for eating blood, the majority of bats eat only insects.

Microchiroptera are generally carnivores, meat-eaters, that feed on insects, such as moths, flying beetles, and mosquitoes. Bats can capture insects while flying by catching them in their mouths or scooping them into their tails or wing membranes. Some bats pick the insects off leaves or the ground. One gray bat may eat up to 3,000 insects in one night.Some bats feed on larger prey, animals hunted or caught for food, such as fish, frogs, birds, mice and other bats. A fisheating bat will swoop down and grab fish with its claws. A bat that eats mice will swoop down, wrap the prey in its wings, bite it and then whisk it away to eat it.

The three species of vampire bats are the only bats that feed on blood, sucking up the blood of cattle, sheep, or other relatively large animals. The bats use their razor-sharp teeth to pierce the animal's skin, often while the animal is sleeping. The bats then lap up about 2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) for their meal.

Most megachiropteran species are herbivores, plant-eaters, eating fruit, seeds, leaves, nectar, and pollen.

Behavior

Bats as a group are crepuscular, meaning they are active at dawn and dusk, or nocturnal, meaning they are active at night. When they are roosting, bats generally hang upside down by their claws. This allows them to simply let go of whatever they are hanging onto and start flying.

With their large ears and small eyes, microchiropteran bats depend upon a complex sound technique called echolocation to help them find prey and move. While flying, these bats send out high-frequency sounds that bounce off of other objects. The bat listens for the bounced sound, and then determines the location, size, distance, and speed of the object—all within a split second. In most bats, the echolocation is at such a high pitch that it is beyond the human hearing range, though humans can hear the sounds of some bats. Researchers are still working to understand exactly how echolocation works. Megachiroptera generally depend upon their eyes to navigate, but some of these bats also use echolocation.

Like all mammals, bats are warm-blooded, meaning they maintain their body temperature. Bats roost in warm places during the cool months to conserve the energy it takes to keep warm. Unlike other mammals, bats can allow their body temperature to drop to the ambient temperature, or surrounding temperature, when they are not active. As their temperature drops, metabolism slows down. During the winter, some bats will drop their body temperatures for months at a time and go into hibernation, meaning they go into a resting state in a safe place, typically without eating or passing wastes. A bat's body temperature can drop to as low as 35.6°F (2°C). These bats survive the winter by living off their storages of fat and making occasional food trips during warmer weather.

Other bat species follow an annual migration pattern, traveling to warmer climates in the cool months and cooler climates in the warm months.

Bats are generally social animals and gather together in roosts. Bats can roost in colonies of several hundred to tens of millions. The number of bats in a roost depends upon the type of bat.

Reproduction

Like all mammals, female bats give birth to live young and feed their newborns milk. Females often roost in large colonies, with many females giving birth in the same area. Bats usually give birth to only one young per year. During their first weeks of life newborn bats cling to their mothers while in flight. Only the mother cares for the young, and there is no lasting relationship between the mother and father.

Bats grow quickly; the young are often flying at four weeks. Young microchiropterans become independent at approximately six to eight weeks, megachiropterans at about four months old. At the age of two years bats are sexually mature.

Bats live about twenty-five years, far longer than most mammals of a comparable size.

 

 

 

 

Pipistrellus pipistrellus

The Common pipistrelle is a very small species of bat. Its forearm is 27.7–32.2 mm (1.09–1.27 in) long. It has a short muzzle. It is 3.5–5.2 cm (1.4–2.0 in) long along the head-and-body, with the tail adding 2.3–3.6 cm (0.91–1.42 in). The body mass can range from 3.5 to 8.5 g (0.12 to 0.30 oz), with the wingspan ranging from 18 to 25 cm (7.1 to 9.8 in). Its brown fur is variable in tone.

Lifespan of these animals in the wild – 9 years.

Carollia perspicillata

The adult length is 1.8–2.5 inches (4.6 – 6.4 cm). Adults weigh between 0.6–0.7 ounce (17 – 20 gr). Adult wingspan is about 8–9 inches (20–23 cm).

Seba's short-tailed bathas a long lifespan, being able to live up to ten years.

Rousettus aegyptiacus

Adults have an average total body length of 15 cm (5.9 in) and an average wingspan of about 60 cm (24 in). Its forearm length is 81–102 mm (3.2–4.0 in) and its thumb length is 22–31 mm (0.87–1.22 in). Adults weigh 80–170 g (2.8–6.0 oz).

Myotis nattereri

Natterer's bat is a medium-sized species and grows to a head and body length of 1.75 to 2 inches (44 to 51 mm) with a forearm (elbow to wrist) length of 1.75 inches (44 mm). It weighs between 5 and 9.5 grams (0.18 and 0.34 oz).

Average lifespan – 7 years.

Nyctalus noctula

The body mass of adult Nyctalus noctulais 25-30 g and they have a wingspan of 37–40 cm.

Lifespan of these animals – 8 years.

Plecotus auritus

Brown long-eared bat, or Common long-eared bat(Plecotus auritus)

Phylumchordata
Class — mammalia
Order — chiroptera
Family — vespertilionidae

Genus – plecotus

Appearance

An adult Brown long-eared bat has a body length of 4.5-4.8 cm, a tail of 4.1-4.6 cm, and a forearm length of 4-4.2 cm. The ears are 3.3-3.9 cm in length, and readily distinguish the long-eared bats from most other bat species.

Habitat

It is found throughout Europe, with the exception of Greece, southern Italy and southern Spain. It is found to the east up to the Urals and Caucasus.

Behavior

Plecotus auritus group together in relatively small groups (no more than 80 individuals). The only social relationship that has been identified is the mother/offspring relationship. Females remain in natal roosts their entire lives and males are likely to depart to another roost.

Brown long-eared bats emerge from roost after sunset and do not return again until shortly before sunrise. They hover in the confined roost briefly before emerging, displaying their ability to remain stationary in the air without any forward motion. There is no convincing evidence of migration of Plecotus auritus, but they do hibernate from autumn to March.

Diet

Brown long-eared bats are insectivorous, feeding mainly on Lepidoptera (moths). They are opportunistic foragers, feeding on the most available insects, including beetles, flies, earwigs, and spiders. Bats forage in a variety of ways, such as catching insects in free flight, landing on the ground to capture prey, or hovering in mid-air to listen for movements of insects to pick them off the foliage. They forage at night, usually relatively close to their roost.

Reproduction

These bats mate in autumn. Females only bear one offspring per breeding season (every year); twins are very rare.The gestation period of Brown long-eared bats is relatively long, but the specifics are unknown. The young are altricial at birth, born pink and hairless with disproportionately large feet, used to grasp their mothers' fur once they are born. They feed on their mothers' milk until they are three weeks old, and then are left in the roost while the mother leaves to forage for food. At six weeks old they are weaned and able to forage for themselves. Females are often ready to breed at one-year-old and males are sexually mature at fifteen months.

Although records show that Plecotus auritus are able to live up to thirty years, the average lifespan is seven years for males, sixteen years for females, and fifteen years for the sexes combined.

In captivity

Bats are very "difficult" animals to keep. The difficulties of caring for them, feeding, and other concerns about these peculiar animals are not compensated by friendly contacts with them. The nocturnal lifestyle also makes it difficult to work with bats. Naturally, these animals cannotbe attributed to the number of favourable pets.

There are two main rues that keepers should follow:

  • provide home for winter (a place where you can control a relatively constant temperature of 3-9 оС);
  • feed insects.

One of the main difficulties in keeping bats in captivity is creating the necessary microclimate in their premises. The body temperature of these animals varies depending on the surrounding temperature, and is different in the state of sleep, wakefulness, and in flight. These amazing creatures can increase their temperature due to muscle activity, which is expressed in the form of a kind of"shiver" when awakening from sleep. To rest, the animals need a moderate coolness, but the same temperature can kill a densely fed bat, which must digest what it has eaten in the heat before going to bed.

In their natural shelters, the animals themselves provide optimal conditions for a particular period, choosing the warmest or, conversely, the coolest corner of the cave, placing themselves singly or in clusters.

So we have to arrange compartments in rooms for bats, in which different temperatures and humidity are maintained, so that the animals themselves choose the most suitable conditions for themselves. To ensure the necessary temperatures in the cell, its ceiling is divided by partitions into a number of compartments 10-20 cm deep, in one of which a heater is used to maintain the temperature plus 30-35° C, while in a remote cold compartment, the room temperature is maintained. As heaters, electric lamps are used, tightly covered with a light-tight casing. The wooden walls of the cages, the ceiling and the slats that form the compartments are covered with a fine stainless mesh, which allows the animals to move freely, clinging to it with their claws. The edges of the mesh should be sealed very carefully to avoid injuries to animals and staff sticking out the ends of the wire.

The necessary humidity conditions are created by placing jars of water in different places of the cage, which also serve as drinkers. Animals that prefer high humidity usually settle above the water. Drinkers are placed at the walls and corners of cages, so that animals can quench their thirst by going down to the water along the walls.

A necessary condition for the well-being of bats in captivity is to regularly warm them up in flight. Animals that live in small cages should be allowed to run and move for at least 10-20 minutes before each feeding.

Feeding bats is quite difficult and troublesome.The basis of their food in captivity are mealworms, pupae.To make this food more complete, the worms are placed in small flat banks for two to four days before feeding for enhanced nutrition with protein and vitamin feeds - fresh cabbage and carrots, raw and cooked meat, white bread, moistened with milk. Before feeding, worms are carefully separated from the remains of feed, sifting through a colander and discarding large remnants with tweezers.

In addition to insects, animals are periodically given milk mixtures from a pipette, which include milk (about a glass), egg yolk, purified beer yeast or wheat bran (a teaspoon), granulated glycerophosphate or calcium glycerophosphate (5 grams), honey or rosehip syrup (one teaspoon), vitamin E (two drops). Periodically, two or three crushed multivitamins are added to the mixture. Insect feeding is done five times a week; milk mixtures are given periodically for a week in a row before feeding insects, after which you should take a break of one or two weeks.

Fed animals can digest food only in heat, when certain areas of the cells are heated to plus 30-35° C, otherwise, instead of digestive processes, putrid ones occur, which leads to the death of bats.

 

Brown long-eared bat, or Common long-eared bat(Plecotus auritus)

Phylumchordata
Class — mammalia
Order — chiroptera
Family — vespertilionidae

Genus – plecotus

Appearance

An adult Brown long-eared bat has a body length of 4.5-4.8 cm, a tail of 4.1-4.6 cm, and a forearm length of 4-4.2 cm. The ears are 3.3-3.9 cm in length, and readily distinguish the long-eared bats from most other bat species.

Habitat

It is found throughout Europe, with the exception of Greece, southern Italy and southern Spain. It is found to the east up to the Urals and Caucasus.

Behavior

Plecotus auritus group together in relatively small groups (no more than 80 individuals). The only social relationship that has been identified is the mother/offspring relationship. Females remain in natal roosts their entire lives and males are likely to depart to another roost.

Brown long-eared bats emerge from roost after sunset and do not return again until shortly before sunrise. They hover in the confined roost briefly before emerging, displaying their ability to remain stationary in the air without any forward motion. There is no convincing evidence of migration of Plecotus auritus, but they do hibernate from autumn to March.

Diet

Brown long-eared bats are insectivorous, feeding mainly on Lepidoptera (moths). They are opportunistic foragers, feeding on the most available insects, including beetles, flies, earwigs, and spiders. Bats forage in a variety of ways, such as catching insects in free flight, landing on the ground to capture prey, or hovering in mid-air to listen for movements of insects to pick them off the foliage. They forage at night, usually relatively close to their roost.

Reproduction

These bats mate in autumn. Females only bear one offspring per breeding season (every year); twins are very rare.The gestation period of Brown long-eared bats is relatively long, but the specifics are unknown. The young are altricial at birth, born pink and hairless with disproportionately large feet, used to grasp their mothers' fur once they are born. They feed on their mothers' milk until they are three weeks old, and then are left in the roost while the mother leaves to forage for food. At six weeks old they are weaned and able to forage for themselves. Females are often ready to breed at one-year-old and males are sexually mature at fifteen months.

Although records show that Plecotus auritus are able to live up to thirty years, the average lifespan is seven years for males, sixteen years for females, and fifteen years for the sexes combined.

In captivity

Bats are very "difficult" animals to keep. The difficulties of caring for them, feeding, and other concerns about these peculiar animals are not compensated by friendly contacts with them. The nocturnal lifestyle also makes it difficult to work with bats. Naturally, these animals cannotbe attributed to the number of favourable pets.

There are two main rues that keepers should follow:

  • provide home for winter (a place where you can control a relatively constant temperature of 3-9 оС);
  • feed insects.

One of the main difficulties in keeping bats in captivity is creating the necessary microclimate in their premises. The body temperature of these animals varies depending on the surrounding temperature, and is different in the state of sleep, wakefulness, and in flight. These amazing creatures can increase their temperature due to muscle activity, which is expressed in the form of a kind of"shiver" when awakening from sleep. To rest, the animals need a moderate coolness, but the same temperature can kill a densely fed bat, which must digest what it has eaten in the heat before going to bed.

In their natural shelters, the animals themselves provide optimal conditions for a particular period, choosing the warmest or, conversely, the coolest corner of the cave, placing themselves singly or in clusters.

So we have to arrange compartments in rooms for bats, in which different temperatures and humidity are maintained, so that the animals themselves choose the most suitable conditions for themselves. To ensure the necessary temperatures in the cell, its ceiling is divided by partitions into a number of compartments 10-20 cm deep, in one of which a heater is used to maintain the temperature plus 30-35° C, while in a remote cold compartment, the room temperature is maintained. As heaters, electric lamps are used, tightly covered with a light-tight casing. The wooden walls of the cages, the ceiling and the slats that form the compartments are covered with a fine stainless mesh, which allows the animals to move freely, clinging to it with their claws. The edges of the mesh should be sealed very carefully to avoid injuries to animals and staff sticking out the ends of the wire.

The necessary humidity conditions are created by placing jars of water in different places of the cage, which also serve as drinkers. Animals that prefer high humidity usually settle above the water. Drinkers are placed at the walls and corners of cages, so that animals can quench their thirst by going down to the water along the walls.

A necessary condition for the well-being of bats in captivity is to regularly warm them up in flight. Animals that live in small cages should be allowed to run and move for at least 10-20 minutes before each feeding.

Feeding bats is quite difficult and troublesome.The basis of their food in captivity are mealworms, pupae.To make this food more complete, the worms are placed in small flat banks for two to four days before feeding for enhanced nutrition with protein and vitamin feeds - fresh cabbage and carrots, raw and cooked meat, white bread, moistened with milk. Before feeding, worms are carefully separated from the remains of feed, sifting through a colander and discarding large remnants with tweezers.

In addition to insects, animals are periodically given milk mixtures from a pipette, which include milk (about a glass), egg yolk, purified beer yeast or wheat bran (a teaspoon), granulated glycerophosphate or calcium glycerophosphate (5 grams), honey or rosehip syrup (one teaspoon), vitamin E (two drops). Periodically, two or three crushed multivitamins are added to the mixture. Insect feeding is done five times a week; milk mixtures are given periodically for a week in a row before feeding insects, after which you should take a break of one or two weeks.

Fed animals can digest food only in heat, when certain areas of the cells are heated to plus 30-35° C, otherwise, instead of digestive processes, putrid ones occur, which leads to the death of bats.

 

 

 

 

Brown long-eared bat, or Common long-eared bat(Plecotus auritus)

Phylumchordata
Class — mammalia
Order — chiroptera
Family — vespertilionidae

Genus – plecotus

Appearance

An adult Brown long-eared bat has a body length of 4.5-4.8 cm, a tail of 4.1-4.6 cm, and a forearm length of 4-4.2 cm. The ears are 3.3-3.9 cm in length, and readily distinguish the long-eared bats from most other bat species.

Habitat

It is found throughout Europe, with the exception of Greece, southern Italy and southern Spain. It is found to the east up to the Urals and Caucasus.

Behavior

Plecotus auritus group together in relatively small groups (no more than 80 individuals). The only social relationship that has been identified is the mother/offspring relationship. Females remain in natal roosts their entire lives and males are likely to depart to another roost.

Brown long-eared bats emerge from roost after sunset and do not return again until shortly before sunrise. They hover in the confined roost briefly before emerging, displaying their ability to remain stationary in the air without any forward motion. There is no convincing evidence of migration of Plecotus auritus, but they do hibernate from autumn to March.

Diet

Brown long-eared bats are insectivorous, feeding mainly on Lepidoptera (moths). They are opportunistic foragers, feeding on the most available insects, including beetles, flies, earwigs, and spiders. Bats forage in a variety of ways, such as catching insects in free flight, landing on the ground to capture prey, or hovering in mid-air to listen for movements of insects to pick them off the foliage. They forage at night, usually relatively close to their roost.

Reproduction

These bats mate in autumn. Females only bear one offspring per breeding season (every year); twins are very rare.The gestation period of Brown long-eared bats is relatively long, but the specifics are unknown. The young are altricial at birth, born pink and hairless with disproportionately large feet, used to grasp their mothers' fur once they are born. They feed on their mothers' milk until they are three weeks old, and then are left in the roost while the mother leaves to forage for food. At six weeks old they are weaned and able to forage for themselves. Females are often ready to breed at one-year-old and males are sexually mature at fifteen months.

Although records show that Plecotus auritus are able to live up to thirty years, the average lifespan is seven years for males, sixteen years for females, and fifteen years for the sexes combined.

In captivity

Bats are very "difficult" animals to keep. The difficulties of caring for them, feeding, and other concerns about these peculiar animals are not compensated by friendly contacts with them. The nocturnal lifestyle also makes it difficult to work with bats. Naturally, these animals cannotbe attributed to the number of favourable pets.

There are two main rues that keepers should follow:

  • provide home for winter (a place where you can control a relatively constant temperature of 3-9 оС);
  • feed insects.

One of the main difficulties in keeping bats in captivity is creating the necessary microclimate in their premises. The body temperature of these animals varies depending on the surrounding temperature, and is different in the state of sleep, wakefulness, and in flight. These amazing creatures can increase their temperature due to muscle activity, which is expressed in the form of a kind of"shiver" when awakening from sleep. To rest, the animals need a moderate coolness, but the same temperature can kill a densely fed bat, which must digest what it has eaten in the heat before going to bed.

In their natural shelters, the animals themselves provide optimal conditions for a particular period, choosing the warmest or, conversely, the coolest corner of the cave, placing themselves singly or in clusters.

So we have to arrange compartments in rooms for bats, in which different temperatures and humidity are maintained, so that the animals themselves choose the most suitable conditions for themselves. To ensure the necessary temperatures in the cell, its ceiling is divided by partitions into a number of compartments 10-20 cm deep, in one of which a heater is used to maintain the temperature plus 30-35° C, while in a remote cold compartment, the room temperature is maintained. As heaters, electric lamps are used, tightly covered with a light-tight casing. The wooden walls of the cages, the ceiling and the slats that form the compartments are covered with a fine stainless mesh, which allows the animals to move freely, clinging to it with their claws. The edges of the mesh should be sealed very carefully to avoid injuries to animals and staff sticking out the ends of the wire.

The necessary humidity conditions are created by placing jars of water in different places of the cage, which also serve as drinkers. Animals that prefer high humidity usually settle above the water. Drinkers are placed at the walls and corners of cages, so that animals can quench their thirst by going down to the water along the walls.

A necessary condition for the well-being of bats in captivity is to regularly warm them up in flight. Animals that live in small cages should be allowed to run and move for at least 10-20 minutes before each feeding.

Feeding bats is quite difficult and troublesome.The basis of their food in captivity are mealworms, pupae.To make this food more complete, the worms are placed in small flat banks for two to four days before feeding for enhanced nutrition with protein and vitamin feeds - fresh cabbage and carrots, raw and cooked meat, white bread, moistened with milk. Before feeding, worms are carefully separated from the remains of feed, sifting through a colander and discarding large remnants with tweezers.

In addition to insects, animals are periodically given milk mixtures from a pipette, which include milk (about a glass), egg yolk, purified beer yeast or wheat bran (a teaspoon), granulated glycerophosphate or calcium glycerophosphate (5 grams), honey or rosehip syrup (one teaspoon), vitamin E (two drops). Periodically, two or three crushed multivitamins are added to the mixture. Insect feeding is done five times a week; milk mixtures are given periodically for a week in a row before feeding insects, after which you should take a break of one or two weeks.

Fed animals can digest food only in heat, when certain areas of the cells are heated to plus 30-35° C, otherwise, instead of digestive processes, putrid ones occur, which leads to the death of bats.

 

 

 

 

Brown long-eared bat, or Common long-eared bat(Plecotus auritus)

Phylumchordata
Class — mammalia
Order — chiroptera
Family — vespertilionidae

Genus – plecotus

Appearance

An adult Brown long-eared bat has a body length of 4.5-4.8 cm, a tail of 4.1-4.6 cm, and a forearm length of 4-4.2 cm. The ears are 3.3-3.9 cm in length, and readily distinguish the long-eared bats from most other bat species.

Habitat

It is found throughout Europe, with the exception of Greece, southern Italy and southern Spain. It is found to the east up to the Urals and Caucasus.

Behavior

Plecotus auritus group together in relatively small groups (no more than 80 individuals). The only social relationship that has been identified is the mother/offspring relationship. Females remain in natal roosts their entire lives and males are likely to depart to another roost.

Brown long-eared bats emerge from roost after sunset and do not return again until shortly before sunrise. They hover in the confined roost briefly before emerging, displaying their ability to remain stationary in the air without any forward motion. There is no convincing evidence of migration of Plecotus auritus, but they do hibernate from autumn to March.

Diet

Brown long-eared bats are insectivorous, feeding mainly on Lepidoptera (moths). They are opportunistic foragers, feeding on the most available insects, including beetles, flies, earwigs, and spiders. Bats forage in a variety of ways, such as catching insects in free flight, landing on the ground to capture prey, or hovering in mid-air to listen for movements of insects to pick them off the foliage. They forage at night, usually relatively close to their roost.

Reproduction

These bats mate in autumn. Females only bear one offspring per breeding season (every year); twins are very rare.The gestation period of Brown long-eared bats is relatively long, but the specifics are unknown. The young are altricial at birth, born pink and hairless with disproportionately large feet, used to grasp their mothers' fur once they are born. They feed on their mothers' milk until they are three weeks old, and then are left in the roost while the mother leaves to forage for food. At six weeks old they are weaned and able to forage for themselves. Females are often ready to breed at one-year-old and males are sexually mature at fifteen months.

Although records show that Plecotus auritus are able to live up to thirty years, the average lifespan is seven years for males, sixteen years for females, and fifteen years for the sexes combined.

In captivity

Bats are very "difficult" animals to keep. The difficulties of caring for them, feeding, and other concerns about these peculiar animals are not compensated by friendly contacts with them. The nocturnal lifestyle also makes it difficult to work with bats. Naturally, these animals cannotbe attributed to the number of favourable pets.

There are two main rues that keepers should follow:

  • provide home for winter (a place where you can control a relatively constant temperature of 3-9 оС);
  • feed insects.

One of the main difficulties in keeping bats in captivity is creating the necessary microclimate in their premises. The body temperature of these animals varies depending on the surrounding temperature, and is different in the state of sleep, wakefulness, and in flight. These amazing creatures can increase their temperature due to muscle activity, which is expressed in the form of a kind of"shiver" when awakening from sleep. To rest, the animals need a moderate coolness, but the same temperature can kill a densely fed bat, which must digest what it has eaten in the heat before going to bed.

In their natural shelters, the animals themselves provide optimal conditions for a particular period, choosing the warmest or, conversely, the coolest corner of the cave, placing themselves singly or in clusters.

So we have to arrange compartments in rooms for bats, in which different temperatures and humidity are maintained, so that the animals themselves choose the most suitable conditions for themselves. To ensure the necessary temperatures in the cell, its ceiling is divided by partitions into a number of compartments 10-20 cm deep, in one of which a heater is used to maintain the temperature plus 30-35° C, while in a remote cold compartment, the room temperature is maintained. As heaters, electric lamps are used, tightly covered with a light-tight casing. The wooden walls of the cages, the ceiling and the slats that form the compartments are covered with a fine stainless mesh, which allows the animals to move freely, clinging to it with their claws. The edges of the mesh should be sealed very carefully to avoid injuries to animals and staff sticking out the ends of the wire.

The necessary humidity conditions are created by placing jars of water in different places of the cage, which also serve as drinkers. Animals that prefer high humidity usually settle above the water. Drinkers are placed at the walls and corners of cages, so that animals can quench their thirst by going down to the water along the walls.

A necessary condition for the well-being of bats in captivity is to regularly warm them up in flight. Animals that live in small cages should be allowed to run and move for at least 10-20 minutes before each feeding.

Feeding bats is quite difficult and troublesome.The basis of their food in captivity are mealworms, pupae.To make this food more complete, the worms are placed in small flat banks for two to four days before feeding for enhanced nutrition with protein and vitamin feeds - fresh cabbage and carrots, raw and cooked meat, white bread, moistened with milk. Before feeding, worms are carefully separated from the remains of feed, sifting through a colander and discarding large remnants with tweezers.

In addition to insects, animals are periodically given milk mixtures from a pipette, which include milk (about a glass), egg yolk, purified beer yeast or wheat bran (a teaspoon), granulated glycerophosphate or calcium glycerophosphate (5 grams), honey or rosehip syrup (one teaspoon), vitamin E (two drops). Periodically, two or three crushed multivitamins are added to the mixture. Insect feeding is done five times a week; milk mixtures are given periodically for a week in a row before feeding insects, after which you should take a break of one or two weeks.

Fed animals can digest food only in heat, when certain areas of the cells are heated to plus 30-35° C, otherwise, instead of digestive processes, putrid ones occur, which leads to the death of bats.

 

 

 

 

Brown long-eared bat, or Common long-eared bat(Plecotus auritus)

Phylumchordata
Class — mammalia
Order — chiroptera
Family — vespertilionidae

Genus – plecotus

Appearance

An adult Brown long-eared bat has a body length of 4.5-4.8 cm, a tail of 4.1-4.6 cm, and a forearm length of 4-4.2 cm. The ears are 3.3-3.9 cm in length, and readily distinguish the long-eared bats from most other bat species.

Habitat

It is found throughout Europe, with the exception of Greece, southern Italy and southern Spain. It is found to the east up to the Urals and Caucasus.

Behavior

Plecotus auritus group together in relatively small groups (no more than 80 individuals). The only social relationship that has been identified is the mother/offspring relationship. Females remain in natal roosts their entire lives and males are likely to depart to another roost.

Brown long-eared bats emerge from roost after sunset and do not return again until shortly before sunrise. They hover in the confined roost briefly before emerging, displaying their ability to remain stationary in the air without any forward motion. There is no convincing evidence of migration of Plecotus auritus, but they do hibernate from autumn to March.

Diet

Brown long-eared bats are insectivorous, feeding mainly on Lepidoptera (moths). They are opportunistic foragers, feeding on the most available insects, including beetles, flies, earwigs, and spiders. Bats forage in a variety of ways, such as catching insects in free flight, landing on the ground to capture prey, or hovering in mid-air to listen for movements of insects to pick them off the foliage. They forage at night, usually relatively close to their roost.

Reproduction

These bats mate in autumn. Females only bear one offspring per breeding season (every year); twins are very rare.The gestation period of Brown long-eared bats is relatively long, but the specifics are unknown. The young are altricial at birth, born pink and hairless with disproportionately large feet, used to grasp their mothers' fur once they are born. They feed on their mothers' milk until they are three weeks old, and then are left in the roost while the mother leaves to forage for food. At six weeks old they are weaned and able to forage for themselves. Females are often ready to breed at one-year-old and males are sexually mature at fifteen months.

Although records show that Plecotus auritus are able to live up to thirty years, the average lifespan is seven years for males, sixteen years for females, and fifteen years for the sexes combined.

In captivity

Bats are very "difficult" animals to keep. The difficulties of caring for them, feeding, and other concerns about these peculiar animals are not compensated by friendly contacts with them. The nocturnal lifestyle also makes it difficult to work with bats. Naturally, these animals cannotbe attributed to the number of favourable pets.

There are two main rues that keepers should follow:

  • provide home for winter (a place where you can control a relatively constant temperature of 3-9 оС);
  • feed insects.

One of the main difficulties in keeping bats in captivity is creating the necessary microclimate in their premises. The body temperature of these animals varies depending on the surrounding temperature, and is different in the state of sleep, wakefulness, and in flight. These amazing creatures can increase their temperature due to muscle activity, which is expressed in the form of a kind of"shiver" when awakening from sleep. To rest, the animals need a moderate coolness, but the same temperature can kill a densely fed bat, which must digest what it has eaten in the heat before going to bed.

In their natural shelters, the animals themselves provide optimal conditions for a particular period, choosing the warmest or, conversely, the coolest corner of the cave, placing themselves singly or in clusters.

So we have to arrange compartments in rooms for bats, in which different temperatures and humidity are maintained, so that the animals themselves choose the most suitable conditions for themselves. To ensure the necessary temperatures in the cell, its ceiling is divided by partitions into a number of compartments 10-20 cm deep, in one of which a heater is used to maintain the temperature plus 30-35° C, while in a remote cold compartment, the room temperature is maintained. As heaters, electric lamps are used, tightly covered with a light-tight casing. The wooden walls of the cages, the ceiling and the slats that form the compartments are covered with a fine stainless mesh, which allows the animals to move freely, clinging to it with their claws. The edges of the mesh should be sealed very carefully to avoid injuries to animals and staff sticking out the ends of the wire.

The necessary humidity conditions are created by placing jars of water in different places of the cage, which also serve as drinkers. Animals that prefer high humidity usually settle above the water. Drinkers are placed at the walls and corners of cages, so that animals can quench their thirst by going down to the water along the walls.

A necessary condition for the well-being of bats in captivity is to regularly warm them up in flight. Animals that live in small cages should be allowed to run and move for at least 10-20 minutes before each feeding.

Feeding bats is quite difficult and troublesome.The basis of their food in captivity are mealworms, pupae.To make this food more complete, the worms are placed in small flat banks for two to four days before feeding for enhanced nutrition with protein and vitamin feeds - fresh cabbage and carrots, raw and cooked meat, white bread, moistened with milk. Before feeding, worms are carefully separated from the remains of feed, sifting through a colander and discarding large remnants with tweezers.

In addition to insects, animals are periodically given milk mixtures from a pipette, which include milk (about a glass), egg yolk, purified beer yeast or wheat bran (a teaspoon), granulated glycerophosphate or calcium glycerophosphate (5 grams), honey or rosehip syrup (one teaspoon), vitamin E (two drops). Periodically, two or three crushed multivitamins are added to the mixture. Insect feeding is done five times a week; milk mixtures are given periodically for a week in a row before feeding insects, after which you should take a break of one or two weeks.

Fed animals can digest food only in heat, when certain areas of the cells are heated to plus 30-35° C, otherwise, instead of digestive processes, putrid ones occur, which leads to the death of bats.

 

 

 

 

Brown long-eared bat, or Common long-eared bat(Plecotus auritus)

Phylumchordata
Class — mammalia
Order — chiroptera
Family — vespertilionidae

Genus – plecotus

Appearance

An adult Brown long-eared bat has a body length of 4.5-4.8 cm, a tail of 4.1-4.6 cm, and a forearm length of 4-4.2 cm. The ears are 3.3-3.9 cm in length, and readily distinguish the long-eared bats from most other bat species.

Habitat

It is found throughout Europe, with the exception of Greece, southern Italy and southern Spain. It is found to the east up to the Urals and Caucasus.

Behavior

Plecotus auritus group together in relatively small groups (no more than 80 individuals). The only social relationship that has been identified is the mother/offspring relationship. Females remain in natal roosts their entire lives and males are likely to depart to another roost.

Brown long-eared bats emerge from roost after sunset and do not return again until shortly before sunrise. They hover in the confined roost briefly before emerging, displaying their ability to remain stationary in the air without any forward motion. There is no convincing evidence of migration of Plecotus auritus, but they do hibernate from autumn to March.

Diet

Brown long-eared bats are insectivorous, feeding mainly on Lepidoptera (moths). They are opportunistic foragers, feeding on the most available insects, including beetles, flies, earwigs, and spiders. Bats forage in a variety of ways, such as catching insects in free flight, landing on the ground to capture prey, or hovering in mid-air to listen for movements of insects to pick them off the foliage. They forage at night, usually relatively close to their roost.

Reproduction

These bats mate in autumn. Females only bear one offspring per breeding season (every year); twins are very rare.The gestation period of Brown long-eared bats is relatively long, but the specifics are unknown. The young are altricial at birth, born pink and hairless with disproportionately large feet, used to grasp their mothers' fur once they are born. They feed on their mothers' milk until they are three weeks old, and then are left in the roost while the mother leaves to forage for food. At six weeks old they are weaned and able to forage for themselves. Females are often ready to breed at one-year-old and males are sexually mature at fifteen months.

Although records show that Plecotus auritus are able to live up to thirty years, the average lifespan is seven years for males, sixteen years for females, and fifteen years for the sexes combined.

In captivity

Bats are very "difficult" animals to keep. The difficulties of caring for them, feeding, and other concerns about these peculiar animals are not compensated by friendly contacts with them. The nocturnal lifestyle also makes it difficult to work with bats. Naturally, these animals cannotbe attributed to the number of favourable pets.

There are two main rues that keepers should follow:

  • provide home for winter (a place where you can control a relatively constant temperature of 3-9 оС);
  • feed insects.

One of the main difficulties in keeping bats in captivity is creating the necessary microclimate in their premises. The body temperature of these animals varies depending on the surrounding temperature, and is different in the state of sleep, wakefulness, and in flight. These amazing creatures can increase their temperature due to muscle activity, which is expressed in the form of a kind of"shiver" when awakening from sleep. To rest, the animals need a moderate coolness, but the same temperature can kill a densely fed bat, which must digest what it has eaten in the heat before going to bed.

In their natural shelters, the animals themselves provide optimal conditions for a particular period, choosing the warmest or, conversely, the coolest corner of the cave, placing themselves singly or in clusters.

So we have to arrange compartments in rooms for bats, in which different temperatures and humidity are maintained, so that the animals themselves choose the most suitable conditions for themselves. To ensure the necessary temperatures in the cell, its ceiling is divided by partitions into a number of compartments 10-20 cm deep, in one of which a heater is used to maintain the temperature plus 30-35° C, while in a remote cold compartment, the room temperature is maintained. As heaters, electric lamps are used, tightly covered with a light-tight casing. The wooden walls of the cages, the ceiling and the slats that form the compartments are covered with a fine stainless mesh, which allows the animals to move freely, clinging to it with their claws. The edges of the mesh should be sealed very carefully to avoid injuries to animals and staff sticking out the ends of the wire.

The necessary humidity conditions are created by placing jars of water in different places of the cage, which also serve as drinkers. Animals that prefer high humidity usually settle above the water. Drinkers are placed at the walls and corners of cages, so that animals can quench their thirst by going down to the water along the walls.

A necessary condition for the well-being of bats in captivity is to regularly warm them up in flight. Animals that live in small cages should be allowed to run and move for at least 10-20 minutes before each feeding.

Feeding bats is quite difficult and troublesome.The basis of their food in captivity are mealworms, pupae.To make this food more complete, the worms are placed in small flat banks for two to four days before feeding for enhanced nutrition with protein and vitamin feeds - fresh cabbage and carrots, raw and cooked meat, white bread, moistened with milk. Before feeding, worms are carefully separated from the remains of feed, sifting through a colander and discarding large remnants with tweezers.

In addition to insects, animals are periodically given milk mixtures from a pipette, which include milk (about a glass), egg yolk, purified beer yeast or wheat bran (a teaspoon), granulated glycerophosphate or calcium glycerophosphate (5 grams), honey or rosehip syrup (one teaspoon), vitamin E (two drops). Periodically, two or three crushed multivitamins are added to the mixture. Insect feeding is done five times a week; milk mixtures are given periodically for a week in a row before feeding insects, after which you should take a break of one or two weeks.

Fed animals can digest food only in heat, when certain areas of the cells are heated to plus 30-35° C, otherwise, instead of digestive processes, putrid ones occur, which leads to the death of bats.

 

 

 

 

Brown long-eared bat, or Common long-eared bat(Plecotus auritus)

Phylumchordata
Class — mammalia
Order — chiroptera
Family — vespertilionidae

Genus – plecotus

Appearance

An adult Brown long-eared bat has a body length of 4.5-4.8 cm, a tail of 4.1-4.6 cm, and a forearm length of 4-4.2 cm. The ears are 3.3-3.9 cm in length, and readily distinguish the long-eared bats from most other bat species.

Habitat

It is found throughout Europe, with the exception of Greece, southern Italy and southern Spain. It is found to the east up to the Urals and Caucasus.

Behavior

Plecotus auritus group together in relatively small groups (no more than 80 individuals). The only social relationship that has been identified is the mother/offspring relationship. Females remain in natal roosts their entire lives and males are likely to depart to another roost.

Brown long-eared bats emerge from roost after sunset and do not return again until shortly before sunrise. They hover in the confined roost briefly before emerging, displaying their ability to remain stationary in the air without any forward motion. There is no convincing evidence of migration of Plecotus auritus, but they do hibernate from autumn to March.

Diet

Brown long-eared bats are insectivorous, feeding mainly on Lepidoptera (moths). They are opportunistic foragers, feeding on the most available insects, including beetles, flies, earwigs, and spiders. Bats forage in a variety of ways, such as catching insects in free flight, landing on the ground to capture prey, or hovering in mid-air to listen for movements of insects to pick them off the foliage. They forage at night, usually relatively close to their roost.

Reproduction

These bats mate in autumn. Females only bear one offspring per breeding season (every year); twins are very rare.The gestation period of Brown long-eared bats is relatively long, but the specifics are unknown. The young are altricial at birth, born pink and hairless with disproportionately large feet, used to grasp their mothers' fur once they are born. They feed on their mothers' milk until they are three weeks old, and then are left in the roost while the mother leaves to forage for food. At six weeks old they are weaned and able to forage for themselves. Females are often ready to breed at one-year-old and males are sexually mature at fifteen months.

Although records show that Plecotus auritus are able to live up to thirty years, the average lifespan is seven years for males, sixteen years for females, and fifteen years for the sexes combined.

In captivity

Bats are very "difficult" animals to keep. The difficulties of caring for them, feeding, and other concerns about these peculiar animals are not compensated by friendly contacts with them. The nocturnal lifestyle also makes it difficult to work with bats. Naturally, these animals cannotbe attributed to the number of favourable pets.

There are two main rues that keepers should follow:

  • provide home for winter (a place where you can control a relatively constant temperature of 3-9 оС);
  • feed insects.

One of the main difficulties in keeping bats in captivity is creating the necessary microclimate in their premises. The body temperature of these animals varies depending on the surrounding temperature, and is different in the state of sleep, wakefulness, and in flight. These amazing creatures can increase their temperature due to muscle activity, which is expressed in the form of a kind of"shiver" when awakening from sleep. To rest, the animals need a moderate coolness, but the same temperature can kill a densely fed bat, which must digest what it has eaten in the heat before going to bed.

In their natural shelters, the animals themselves provide optimal conditions for a particular period, choosing the warmest or, conversely, the coolest corner of the cave, placing themselves singly or in clusters.

So we have to arrange compartments in rooms for bats, in which different temperatures and humidity are maintained, so that the animals themselves choose the most suitable conditions for themselves. To ensure the necessary temperatures in the cell, its ceiling is divided by partitions into a number of compartments 10-20 cm deep, in one of which a heater is used to maintain the temperature plus 30-35° C, while in a remote cold compartment, the room temperature is maintained. As heaters, electric lamps are used, tightly covered with a light-tight casing. The wooden walls of the cages, the ceiling and the slats that form the compartments are covered with a fine stainless mesh, which allows the animals to move freely, clinging to it with their claws. The edges of the mesh should be sealed very carefully to avoid injuries to animals and staff sticking out the ends of the wire.

The necessary humidity conditions are created by placing jars of water in different places of the cage, which also serve as drinkers. Animals that prefer high humidity usually settle above the water. Drinkers are placed at the walls and corners of cages, so that animals can quench their thirst by going down to the water along the walls.

A necessary condition for the well-being of bats in captivity is to regularly warm them up in flight. Animals that live in small cages should be allowed to run and move for at least 10-20 minutes before each feeding.

Feeding bats is quite difficult and troublesome.The basis of their food in captivity are mealworms, pupae.To make this food more complete, the worms are placed in small flat banks for two to four days before feeding for enhanced nutrition with protein and vitamin feeds - fresh cabbage and carrots, raw and cooked meat, white bread, moistened with milk. Before feeding, worms are carefully separated from the remains of feed, sifting through a colander and discarding large remnants with tweezers.

In addition to insects, animals are periodically given milk mixtures from a pipette, which include milk (about a glass), egg yolk, purified beer yeast or wheat bran (a teaspoon), granulated glycerophosphate or calcium glycerophosphate (5 grams), honey or rosehip syrup (one teaspoon), vitamin E (two drops). Periodically, two or three crushed multivitamins are added to the mixture. Insect feeding is done five times a week; milk mixtures are given periodically for a week in a row before feeding insects, after which you should take a break of one or two weeks.

Fed animals can digest food only in heat, when certain areas of the cells are heated to plus 30-35° C, otherwise, instead of digestive processes, putrid ones occur, which leads to the death of bats.

 

 

 

 

An adult Brown long-eared bat has a body length of 4.5-4.8 cm, a tail of 4.1-4.6 cm, and a forearm length of 4-4.2 cm.

Pteropus vampyrus

The Large flying fox is among the largest species of bat. It weighs 0.65–1.1 kg (1.4–2.4 lb) and has a wingspan of up to 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in). Its head-body length is 27–32 cm (11–13 in). Its forearm length is 180–220 mm (7.1–8.7 in).

Pteropus vampyrus can live 15 to 30 years in captivity, and an average of 15 years in the wild.