Halloween bats can be fascinating, as well as scary
There's no escaping the fact that Halloween features some creatures that are sure to give you a good case of goose bumps. Let's talk some more about bats.
The season is a good excuse for darn near everybody to decorate their home, office or place of business with representations of these seemingly scary night-dwellers.
My default maxim is this: "We fear most what we know the least." While it might be oh so natural to get a case of the heebiejeebies when we encounter those things that go bump in the night, I'd like to take this opportunity to reveal to you but one interesting factual tidbit about bats — the actual physical technique whereby they grasp their insect prey.
Almost everybody knows that bats use sonar. It is pretty darn dark outside when bats are on the prowl. Sonar aids them in avoiding collisions with tree trunks and cave walls. In addition to that, the multitude of squeaks that the bats send forth assist the bat in locating the flying insects upon which they wish to dine.
One has to wonder: How do the bats actually capture their food? I am talking about grabbing ahold of the flying bugs once they get within grabbing range. It would be darn bothersome for them to nab their prey with their mouth; that's going to interfere with the sound impulses that they're sending out into the void.
Bats catch their prey with a "catcher's mitt" that is back by their feet. There's a flap of skin back between the bat's tail and leg that functions as an insect-catching scoop.
The next step in the procedure is for the bat to quickly tuck its face down between its legs, speedily swallow the captured insect, tumble earthward in a somersault or two, and then resume its flight in search of another meal.
My challenge to you is this: As you go door-to-door tomorrow night, conduct an impromptu quiz at the front stoop of each and every home you visit. How many people do you suppose are going to be able to correctly answer your query as to how bats capture their prey?
Be sure to share your sack of treats with those homeowners who correctly display a grasp of natural history knowledge.
— Neil Garrison, NewsOK Contributor