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Bat
The bat belongs to the order of chiroptera which also includes the Noctule (or Common Bat), the Long-eared Bat (for its large ears) and the American vampire bat. The common bat comes out in the evening to find food and its diet is mainly based on insects that it manages to catch while flying.
During the day, however, it hides inside caves, walls of abandoned houses, and cliffs. The important thing is that it can always count on a support to cling to.
The bat is mistakenly considered by many people to be a bird because it can fly. In reality, it is a mammal more similar to a mouse, and what it uses to soar in the air are not wings, but membranes that almost completely envelop its body. Certainly, the peculiarity that everyone knows and remembers about this animal is its curious habit of sleeping upside down.
Are bats dangerous?
It is difficult to think of a group of animals more harmless than bats. Animals as reserved and discreet as they are fascinating and exceptional.
The only mammals capable of active, skillful, and precise flight, they are able to carefully avoid a collision with a human being, having no interest in getting tangled in your hair. This is in fact one of the many legends that have spread about bats due to misinformation and their elusiveness, which makes them appear to us as dark and mysterious animals.
They are not blind, have very little to do with mice, and clearly do not bring bad luck. But above all, they are not dangerous to humans. People are often afraid of what they do not know, and fear originates from old tales and legends, which, unfortunately, are regularly renewed by superficial and sensationalist information.
Appearance and biology
By analyzing the etymology of these two terms, we can deduce a lot about this particular type of bird. The term Chiroptera derives from the Greek cheir and pteron, meaning "hand" and "wing" respectively. In fact, bats have very light wings, which they use as if they were their cloak, and at the ends they have small, thin hands. This combination of hand and arm transformed into a wing means that this mammal does not walk like all the others, but has the ability to fly. Meanwhile, the term "Pipistrello" from the Latin Vespertlio derives from vesper, which means "evening".
It is their common habit, in fact, to become active during the nighttime hours and prefer the day for resting. The bat looks for hidden and safe places such as caves or crevices that can serve as a den. Modern cities offer very few such shelters and, often, bats are attracted to attics and lofts of abandoned houses, sometimes not even disdaining inhabited ones. If these habitats are made of wood, even better, because bats feed on xylophagous insects (wood parasites) which they are very fond of, debunking old urban legends that claim they go around in a frantic search for blood to suck from their prey.
Bats are extremely important animals for maintaining the natural balance of our ecosystem, as they decimate wood pests and help keep away the very annoying mosquitoes, which they feed on. Furthermore, bats are increasingly rare animals and therefore at risk of extinction, so they are protected by the authorities in our country. It would be a crime to eliminate them, injure them, or harm them. Even moving or modifying their roosts is punishable because bats have the habit of returning to the same places year after year. Therefore, if you suspect the presence of bats in your home, immediately contact professionals who are experts in removing these mammals.
A tip to have a better chance of recognizing them is to analyze their droppings, which are often confused with those of mice. Bat droppings crumble very easily as they are made up of the remains of the insects they feed on. A fundamental aspect to remember when a bat enters our house is not to panic but to try to remain calm. The bat is a very ancient animal and, unlike the most widespread popular beliefs, it is not dangerous to humans, it does not get tangled in our hair, but rather, if treated like any other intruder, it easily leaves through doors and windows left purposely open.
Ecopiakos Ecological Solutions - VAT 05534520878