| The Halloween Bat. Did you know that...At | | | | party. Share theknowledge!* Bats have a thumb |
| this time of year you can expect to find the | | | | and four fingers on each hand. These fingers |
| Halloween bat all over town. They | | | | are the bones or 'struts'they use to spread |
| areeverywhere. You can see them in almost | | | | their thin, skin membranes into flying wings. |
| every window, pasted on doors, and very | | | | As they stretch theirfingers the skin unfolds |
| often evenhanging from porches. As familiar | | | | into wings. |
| as they are, there are some important and | | | | |
| interestingfacts that you probably did not | | | | * A bat's fingers are especially long. If a |
| know about them.* First off, bats are the | | | | human being had fingers that were as long as |
| only mammals that have the ability to fly. | | | | abat's, comparatively, their fingers would be |
| | | | dragging on the ground. Sort of a |
| * There are over one thousand different | | | | permanentmanicure. |
| species of bats.The most frequently occurring | | | | |
| Halloween bat we have is the blood sucking | | | | * Bats are not blind as most people think. |
| Vampire bat. Thevampire drinks blood. How | | | | The truth is they can see just as well as a |
| spooky is that. And, how appropriate for a | | | | humanbeing. |
| Halloween bat. But thetruth of the matter is | | | | |
| that this bat suffers greatly from an | | | | * Not all bats have radar. Actually, none of |
| undeserved bad reputation.Here are some facts | | | | them do. But, some bats use echolocation, |
| that may change your mind about this fellow, | | | | asonar like system used by dolphins, bats, |
| the Vampire bat.* To begin with, the Vampire | | | | and other animals to detect and locate |
| bat is pretty small. He is the size of a | | | | objects. |
| small mouse. | | | | |
| | | | They send out an unsually high-pitched |
| * Vampire bats very seldom bite humans. This | | | | 'squeak', just like sonar. The squeak |
| is an extremely infrequent occurrence. | | | | reflects offan object and returns to the |
| | | | animal's ears or other sensory receptors. |
| * Vampire bats do not normally kill their | | | | This is how theyfind their prey but, again, |
| prey by biting them. Actually, they feed on | | | | while most bat species can do this not all |
| smallamounts of blood they suck from other | | | | have this ability.The Halowen bat is as |
| resting mammals and birds. They do this by | | | | familiar as Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. |
| making ashallow cut with their specialized | | | | It's no wonder whyweenjoy the treats and |
| incisor teeth. | | | | innocent pranks of Halloween so much. Here |
| | | | are some great websitesyou can visit to help |
| * Finally, the Halloween bat does never | | | | you get the most out of your holiday for |
| morphs itself into the more familiar | | | | yourself and your children.First, the |
| blood-suckingvampire.Now that you know all | | | | freebies: - Free HalloweenStuff. This second |
| abut the Halloween Vampire bat, you can go | | | | website has a nifty Halloween bat-pack that |
| trick or treating with thefirm knowledge that | | | | chases your computermouse around the screen - |
| some flying devil will not come screeching | | | | . The last is awonderful website to share |
| out of the night sky to suckyou dry of your | | | | with your children - Igan is an Halloween |
| blood. Boo!Bats in general are really | | | | aficionado and webmaster whose Free Halloween |
| extraordinary, tiny animals. Here are a few | | | | Stuff website at has loads of scary stuff to |
| more things youshould know to perk up the | | | | help you celebrate the holiday. Visit Free |
| conversation at your next blood-vomit punch | | | | Halloween Stuff now. BOO! |