International night of bats

The last full weekend of August is celebrated all over the world International Night of Bats.

Who are bats and their characteristics

Bats are very unusual mammals whose body structure allows them to fly. Their wings are supported by long and highly developed front limbs. Also, bats have a narrow tail, which is covered with a summer membrane. The length of this tail is equal to the length of the mammal’s head.

Bats cling to branches and various protrusions with their hind limbs, which do not have webs, while hanging upside down. Bats are active at night because they have very poor vision. They can only see a little in the dark. They hunt thanks to highly developed hearing and sense of smell, which will allow them to navigate in space. Also, bats can echo sound using ultra-high pitched sounds. Only dolphins have this unique feature.

The history and purpose of the International Night of Bats

This unusual nature protection holiday was founded in 1997. The purpose of the celebration is to draw the attention of humanity to the problems of bats and to encourage everyone to protect the bats. Also, the holiday helps to debunk a large number of myths related to bats. For example, some people are afraid of them, considering them to be vampires.