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1) In which of these places do bats roost?
a. Trees
b. Caves
c. Bridges
d. All of the above

2) Where do bats live in the world?
a. North America and Europe
b. Africa, North America and Asia
c. North America and Australia
d. Every continent except Antarctica

3) Bats identify objects at night by sending out sound waves. What is this called?
a. Echolocation
b. Echodestination
c. Laser detection
d. Radar

True or False: Bats are blind.
a. True
b. False

Bats do not like to hunt for food when it is________.
a. Clear
b. Cloudy
c. Rainy
d. Sad

Bat Catcher!

Have you every played Marco Polo? Well, this activity is just like Marco Polo but with a twist. In this activity you will learn what it is like to be bats on the hunt for food as they use sounds and echoes to sense objects and food.

What you need:

• Group of people (preferably six or more)
• An outside, open space
• Two handkerchiefs or two pieces of cloth

What to do:

• Once you have your group to play, pick one person to be the “bat” and one person to be the “moth.” (The bat should not know who the moth is.)
• All of the players that were not chosen to be the bat or the moth are going to be “trees.”
• Go to your outside, open area.
• Use one handkerchief or piece of cloth to blindfold the bat. Use the other to blindfold the moth.
• The trees will then form a circle around the bat and the moth.
• The object is for the bat to catch the moth through sound and echo. That bat will call out “echo” (the sound) while the moth answers with “prey” and the trees answer with “tree” (which act as the echoes).
• The trees are supposed to stand still while the bat and moth are the only ones that can move. The bat and moth cannot go outside the circle. (If the bat or moth go outside the circle, the trees can lead them back in the right direction.)
• Once the bat finds the moth, the game is over. A new bat and moth can be chosen to start a new game.

Activity inspired by PBS Kids’ Zoom. Image courtesy of Bureau of Land Management.

Learn some interesting facts about bats!

• A single bat can eat up to 1,200 insects in one day! One insect in particular that bats eat are mosquitoes. Mosquitoes can be annoying insects and bats help reduce their population.

• There are over 900 species of bats. They make up one fifth of the world’s mammals!

• Bats are pollinators. Bats frequent flower patches at night, dine on pollen and drink the sweet nectar. Bats fly long distances to feast on plants and transport pollen between flowers in different locations, facilitating cross-pollination.

First image courtesy of USGS. Second image courtesy of CDC.

Check out these cool tips and tools about bats!

Quiz Answers

1) D: Bats live in many different places, including trees, caves and bridges. Trees and bridges offer great roosting places and caves are good places for bats to sleep during the day. Other places bats call home are buildings, mines and bat houses.
2) D: Bats can be found on every continent except Antarctica. You can find more species of bats where the weather is nice and warm. In the United States, the greatest number of bat species live in the southwestern part of the country.
3) A: Bats send out sound waves using their mouth or nose. When the sound hits an object, an echo comes back. The bat can identify an object by the sound of the echo. Most bats use echolocation to navigate in the dark and find food.
4) B: Bats are not blind. Bats are born blind, but gain eyesight within seven to nine days of birth. The expression “blind as a bat” comes from how bats dart around in the dark when they hunt for food using echolocation, instead of sight.
5) C: Bats do not like to fly in the rain. The rain interferes with their echolocation and they are unable to locate their food.