Do bats avoid light?

There are over 12000 different species of bats. They are important humans as they feed on insects and keep their population down. Bats have various ranges of adaptation which help them survive.

Family of bats
Bats are those mammals who are often misjudged in terms of their body structure and functions. They belong to the Chiroptera family of mammals. On your first encounter with a bat you may mistake him as a rat due to the shared resemblance between both animals but bats possess webbed fore limbs. They are the only mammals who have the ability to fly long both long and short distances. Bats are more active during night than during the day due to which they belong to the list of nocturnal mammals. This is a very important form of adaptation as flying requires a lot of energy and could be a tiresome task during the day time. Among all nocturnal mammals, only bats are capable of flying.

Whether bats are blind or have an accurate vision?
Bats have a perfect vision which further justifies the relationship between bats and light. Bats as mentioned above are nocturnal animal due to which they are adapted to low light surroundings. They fly when’s in dark and avoid contact with artificial lights as much as possible.

How do bats search for food?
Without light, it may seem impossible for anyone to search for food or other important stuff. Bats have a special system known as Echolocation which locates their food and guides their movement. When bats fly they send sound signals to this system and listen carefully for feedback. This feedback plays a major role in helping bats to locate anything in immense darkness. The Echolocation system is also called Sonar.

How do bats hunt?
Bats usually prefer to hunt in groups where they search for insects using echolocation. During the day time, bats are usually in a state of hibernation known as torpor. Here, they attempt to reduce their body rate and save energy which they use in night for hunting purposes. Some of the bats even covers a 50 kilometre distance for the sake of finding food.

How to aid the survival of bats?
Bats choose to either migrate to warmer areas in the winter season or they hibernate. They often settle in large groups. Organizations which are working for the conservation of bats have suggested that buildings which are used by bats for roosting must have their lights switched off when bats are active.