They don’t really turn into vampires, but a visiting bat from the Organization for Bat Conservation at Cranbrook did bring along a few of his fellow nocturnal friends for a trip to Carpenter Elementary School on Nov. 22.
Dawn Vezina of Cranbrook travels to area schools with a program called Animal Adaptations, which teaches about nocturnal animals, such as bats, and how they use their senses to survive in the dark.
Vezina brought a Mexican free tail bat named Speedy, a screech owl named Pepper and a flying squirrel named Jingles to Carpenter from their home at Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills.
‘Nocturnal animals almost live in a totally different world, where it’s dark almost all the time,? she said. ‘So they use different senses to help them get around in their world.?
Being ‘daytime animals,? Vezina said humans tend to focus most of their attention on what they see with their eyes. Not so with nocturnal animals, she said.
‘Their eyes are set up differently. We have to have light in order to see…but nocturnal animals see in black and white, and they don’t need a lot of light to see just as clearly as we do during the day,? she said.
Nocturnal animals also depend a lot on their sense of touch, as well as smell and taste.
‘Despite what most people believe, bats are not blind,? she said. ‘They are actually very beneficial animals, and they don’t tangle in your hair. Few of them have rabies.?
Vezina said bats consume 600-1,200 insects, like mosquitoes, every hour at night.
‘Their wings are like a human hand, with four fingers,? she said. ‘And they rely on their sense of hearing and something called ‘echo location.? They use a high frequency sound, and we can’t hear it.?
Vezina said owls have good night vision, and have to move their head to see different angles.
‘They eyes don’t move like ours do,? she said.
‘And their feathers have jagged ends, that break the surface of the air without making hardly any sound at all.?