Bats are an excellent topic of conversation, anytime! We suggest you share these facts with your friends and family over your holiday dinner. Where will the conversation go from here?!

There are over 1300 species of bats in the world, which is one-fifth of all mammal species. Fourteen species of bats have been found in Indiana; two may have been extirpated. Take a guess at the number in your area using the Chiroptera map from Biodiversity Global.

Bats are the only mammals capable of true powered flight. In a single night, a bat can eat up to 100% of its body weight in insects, including many agricultural and human pests. Bats pollinate at least 528 different species of plants, including agave, which is the primary ingredient in tequila. Only 3 species of bats eat blood. Vampire bats are found from Mexico to South America. They take blood meals from birds and large mammals, like cattle. Most bat species can live to be 10-30 years old. A bat in Russia was documented at more than 40 years old! Most female bats have only 1 pup per year, which is very different from other small mammals. Fewer than 1% of bats carry rabies. Not all bats echolocate—Old World fruit bats lack the ability to use true echolocation, though some fruit bats in Africa use tongue clicks in the same way that blind people navigate. Bats use a variety of roosts, including but not limited to: caves, trees, rock crevices, bridges, attics, leaf litter, and bat houses.

Big brown bat eating a carrion beetle. Photo by Dylan Horvath