This week in bat adventures… we didn’t actually make it out for any, well, bat adventures. However, I went down a bit of a rabbit hole on bat researchers and wanted to share what I found! I also threw in some books you might find interesting.

Famous bat researchers:

If you are anything like me and my love of bats, you will also want to know about famous bat researchers. There are many out there, all over the world, who continue until this day, to educate themselves and others about the magical flying creature.

Below is a short list of some researchers you should know about. Because of them, we know more about bats than ever before. Seriously, read up about them, you will learn many new things about bats!

Dr. Brock Fenton, Professor Emeritus, Department of Biology, Western University and Dr. Bonnie Schmidt, Founder and CEO, Let’s Talk Science, will deliver our invited lectures at OBD 2019. {source Western Science} https://www.uwo.ca/biology/directory/emeritus/fenton.html

Gerrit S. Miller JR. (December 6, 1869 – February 24, 1956) was an outstanding early twentieth century bat biologist at the Smithsonian Institution. Miller’s work on the evolutionary relationships of chiropteran families and genera to one another still strongly influences taxonomic thinking about bats today. {source North American Society for Bat Research – https://www.nasbr.org/miller}

Thomas H. Kunz (June 11, 1938 – April 13, 2020) was an American biologist specializing in the study of bats. He was credited with coining the study of aeroecology; additionally, he wrote several fundamental textbooks and publications on bat ecology. {source Wikipedia} https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kunz

Donald Redfield Griffin (August 3, 1915 – November 7, 2003) was an American professor of zoology at various universities who conducted seminal research in animal behavior, animal navigation, acoustic orientation and sensory biophysics. In 1938, while an undergraduate at Harvard University, he began studying the navigational method of bats, which he identified as animal echolocation in 1944. In The Question of Animal Awareness (1976), he argued that animals are conscious like humans. Griffin was the originator of the concept of mentophobia: the denial of the consciousness of other animals by scientists. {source Wikipedia} https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Griffin

Books about bats:

The Families and Genera of Bats, by Gerrit S. Miller, Jr. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/16306

The Bat Scientists by Mary Kay Carson https://sciencemeetsadventure.com/the-bat-scientists/index.html

Each time I post, I am going to also suggest music that goes with bat adventures! Today I’m suggesting

Bats: A World of Science and Mystery by M. Brock Fenton, Nancy B. Simmons https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/bats-a-world-of-science/9780226065120-item.html

Type of bats: N/A
No. Mosquito bites: 0

Here is a link I’ve created to all of our bat sightings.

Important: Do not handle bats. They can carry the rabies virus. Only those who have been properly vaccinated and have knowledge of bats should be handling them. If you find a bat in your home call a bat rescue. Do not call an exterminator, call a rescue. Bats are important for our environment. I have links below for rescues.

Types of bats in Ontario: https://onnaturemagazine.com/bat-guide.html
High Park Nature Centre: https://www.highparknature.org/wiki/wiki.php?n=Mammals.Bats
Bat rescues: http://www.ontariowildliferescue.ca/wildlifecentres/?care=bat