Did you know that bats eat their own weight in food everyday? If humans did that… oh boy! Bats need to eat so much food to accumulate fat reserves of up to one third of its body weight before hibernation. So it’s important that you let them eat.

Bats provide humans with many benefits. Bat dung has been mined as guano from caves and used as fertilizer. Bats consume insect pests, reducing the need for pesticides. And in the summertime, the less mosquitos the better! They are important in their own and our ecosystems because they pollinate flowers and dispersing seeds; many tropical plants depend entirely on bats for these services. (source Wikipedia)

Wikipedia has a really great write up with a good breakdown of what types of food different species of bats require. If you want a quicker read on what they eat, here is a nice short article. Basically, different bats eat different things, some eat mainly fruit/fruit nectar, while others depend on bugs.

If you’d prefer to watch a video on the subject, this is a great video!

For those Toronto readers, once High Park Nature Centre is open again, I highly recommend you go on one of their bat walks. They provide amazing information. In the meantime, here is an article on what Toronto bats eat!

Each time I post, I am going to also suggest music that goes with bat adventures! With the summer weather literally heating up, we need some surf music and today I’m suggesting The Surfragettes.

Type of bats: Large brown bat
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