Iowa Mammals
Mammals are warm-blooded, have a
back-bone, are hairy, and have mammary glands that produce milk to feed their
young. Mammals live on all continents and in all oceans. Iowa has 40 species of mammals that are
considered common in the state. Iowa’s mammals live in woodlands, prairies,
waterways, farm fields, and towns. They are adapted to a wide variety of
habitats.
Creature Feature – Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus)
All bats are members of the Order
Chiroptera - which is the second largest mammalian order in the world. The little
brown bat is one of Iowa’s most common bats. They roost in caves, mines,
buildings. They prefer buildings close to wooded areas. Many little brown bats
migrate further south before hibernating for the winter. Some also hibernate in eastern Iowa in deep
caves or mines that remain above freezing.
Little brown bats average 3 – 3 ¾ inches
in length including their tail. They have shiny brown fur on their body and dark
brown wings and ears. Each wing is
attached along the side of the foot. They have medium-sized ears with round
tragus (membranous projection). Young bats are born from May to July. They can
fly at one month of age. Bats are long-lived animals despite their small size.
Little brown bats can live up to 20 years although on average they live
approximately 11 years in the wild.
Little brown bats, like all Iowa
bat species, are insect eaters. They are often seen in yards as they forage for
food. Bats are very beneficial - a single a bat can eat as many as 3,000
mosquitoes in a single night! Little brown bats prefer moths, caddisflies, and
beetle larvae - although they do eat their fair share of mosquitoes too! Bats
are nocturnal and emerge from their roosts each night at dusk to eat.
Like
most bats, little brown bats use echolocation
to navigate in the dark and to locate food. Bats produce high-frequency sound
waves using their nose or mouth. When
the sound hits an object an echo bounces back to the bat's large funnel-shaped
ears. The bat can instantly identify an
object by the sound of the echo. Bats can even tell the size, shape and texture
of even a tiny insect from the echo. Although
bats rely on echolocation they are not blind as is commonly believed.
Bat Book Project
Bats are often thought of negatively. As a class or in smaller groups
have the students write and illustrate a book that will change people's
feelings about this animal.
As part of this project discuss children’s feelings and thoughts about
bats. Make a chart with before and after feelings about bats. Ask children if
they have ever seen a bat? What did they think? What do they think after
learning more about bats and reading about bats? How can they help other people
feel good about bats?
Make a “Bat Cave”
Using blankets, chairs and desks, make a "bat cave”
(blanket fort). Read bat stories in your
new classroom “bat cave”. Choose from the list below!
Book
List
Cannon, J. 1993. Stellaluna.
Harcourt Children's Books.
Carney, E. 2010. National
Geographic Readers: Bats. National
Geographic Children’s Books.
Davies, N., and S. Fox-Davies. 2004. Bat Loves the Night. Candlewick Press.
Earle, A., and H. Cole. 1995. Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats. HarperCollins Publishers.
Gibbons, G. 2000. Bats.
Holiday House, Inc.
Levigne, H., and B. Kalman. 1998. What is a Bat? Crabtree Publishing Company.
Milton, J., and J. Moffatt. Bats: Creatures of the Night. Penguin Group (USA).
Pifer, P. 2006. Boo,
the Little Brown Bat. Purpose Life Publishing.
Pringle, L., and M. Henderson. 2000. Bats!: Strange and Wonderful. Boyds Mills Press.
Links
IDNR: Education – Classroom
Resources (go to the Document Library at the bottom of the page for fact sheets
and activity sheets!)
Iowa Wildlife Series – Iowa
Mammals
Birds of Iowa: Bats of Iowa –
Little Brown Bat
Bat Conservation International
No comments:
Post a Comment