DID YOU KNOW THAT ...?

☺Bats are the only flying mammals.

☺Bats first appeared 50.000.000 years ago.

☺The world's smallest bat lives in Thailand and it has a weight of 1.5 - 2 grams and a wingspan of 15 cm.

☺The greatest weight of a bat is of about 1.5 kg (Pteropus edulis).

☺The smallest bat in Romania is Pipistrellus pipistrellus, which weights just 3.5 grams. ☺The largest colony of Pipistrellus pipistrellus in Romania can be found in Sura Mare Cave, Hunedoara County.

☺An insectivore bat eats around 10 kg of insects in a lifetime.

☺The largest bat colony in the world can be found in Bracken Caves (USA). At around 1960 it was estimated at a population of about 40,000,000 bats.

 ☺In Cave Trois - Freres (France) there are cave drawings, that represent bats in flight and which date back 35,000 years.

☺Johann Strauss composed the operetta "The Bat”.

☺In China, bats are considered guarantors of good luck, happiness and longevity.

☺Bat mortality in the first year of life, is 50% (in the temperate zone), because young bats haven’t got the experience of choosing the best places for hibernation.

☺The most despised bat is Desmodus rotundus- the Vampire Bat, which can double its weight in one night with about 3-5 grams.

 ☺The largest colony of bats in Europe is Cave Papara’s Huda (Romania, Alba county), where there were counted approximately 84,000 bats belonging to 9 species. Inventory was coordinated by prof. Dr. Ion Coroiu from the Faculty of Biology at Babes Bolyai University of Cluj Napoca.

☺The young orphans of Desmodos rotundus species are adapted by other female

☺European bats gestation lasts from 45 days to 70. Bats from warm areas have a shorter gestation period.

☺In the world there have been identified 1100 species of bats, of which 80% live in warm areas.

☺71% of the total number of species of bats are insectivore and only 0.3% are hematophagous (they feed with blood).

☺Accidental awakening of a hibernating bat shortens its resistance with 50 days.

☺Usually bats have one to three litters (Pipistrellus pipistrellus have 2 litters).

☺ The mammals that hunt bats are: the stone marten, the fox, the rat, the cat, the ermine, the raccoon.

☺The first decree that was meant to protect the bats, was developed in Holland (anul1880) and the second in Hungary (1901).

☺The movie "Batman" (filmed in 1989) brought over $ 240 million. The series continued with the films "Batman Begins", released in 2005 (collecting $ 370 million) and "The Darkknight" which brought $ 60 million XXX on the premiere day. Movies have been starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger and were produced by Warner Bros.

☺There are just 3 species of bats that eat fish.

☺Bats have exceptional longevity for some mammals of their size. In specialist publications are cited even ages exceeding 30 years (Myotis lucifugus).

☺In Europe, rabies transmitted by bats was found in Belgium, Denmark, Turkey, Serbia. In Romania no such cases have been reported.

☺In Romania there is a report of one bat to 50 people.

☺The Total quantity of insects consumed by bats in Romania is of about 400,000 kg.

☺The largest bat in Romania is Nyctalus lasiopterus that weighs 75-80 grams.

☺Aristotle was the first to say that bats are mammals. He said this in his "natural studies".

☺In Gabon and Cameroon, hipposideros gigas bat species is consumed by local people, and its taste resembles that of snipe.

☺Leonardo da Vinci used the bat as a model when he designed his flying car.