How can bats spend so much time upside-down and still circulate blood

A. Generally your circulatory system adapts to whatever position you are in and the heart, arteries, and veins all work to move the blood through the circulatory system in one direction.

Bats do have one or two special features that help them move their blood around even when upside-down. Compared to other mammals they have large hearts relative to body size.

Bats hearts also pump large amounts of blood with each beat.

Q. Are bats the only mammals that fly

A. Yes they are. There is a so-called flying squirrel, but it actually glides rather than flies.

Q. Are bats closely related to mice

A. Many people assume bats are close to the rodent family, however, they're more closely related to you and me.

Q. What are my chances of being bitten by a bat

A. In Britain, zero. British bats are much more interested in eating insects; on a warm summer night a tiny pipistrelle bat may eat 3,000 mosquitoes!

In facts most bats worldwide prefer insects. Bats reputation as blood suckers is misplaced. The famous vampire bat of Mexico, Central America and South America doesn't suck blood; rather it laps it from a small cut it makes in the skin of sleeping animals. The animals rarely feels anything as the bats saliva contains an anaesthetic and with a diet of just two tablespoons of blood a day the 'victim' isn't in any danger of being sapped dry.

Q. How do bats navigate in the dark

A. Bats are not blind, however, they rely on their sophisticated sonar system, called 'echolocation' for night time flying and feeding.

Bats emit pulses of very high frequency sound and then scan the reflected echoes to determine what's in their path. So accurate is this system that they can avoid flying into something as thin as a piece of thread and hunt down mosquitoes.

Q. How many species of bat are there

A. Around 1,000 worldwide, with the majority living in the tropics. They're one of the most numerous of mammals' species, comprising one fifth of them.

Do you have a question about a fellow mammal Click here to ask.

by Lisa Cardy