Post by L Roebuck on Oct 12, 2006 8:22:23 GMT -5
A little batty
Bats can see just fine, enjoy snuggling and are related to monkeys
BY MARK RICE
Staff Writer
The coolest thing about bats is that their wings actually are their hands.
That's what 11-year-old Jaz Jarzewiak concluded after hearing Sunday's program at the Columbus State University Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center.
"Their wings are just skin really stretched out," said Jaz, a sixth-grader in the International Baccalaureate program at Richards Middle School. "So they really glide more than fly, because they don't have as much muscles."
"As many," corrected Jaz's fraternal twin brother, Ian.
Ian also disagreed with Jaz about the coolest bat fact Clayton State University biology professor Stephen Burnett told 30 people during the first of his two presentations.
"Bats really are related to monkeys," Ian said.
Jaz laughed and added, "That's kind of odd. You don't think they would be, except for the monkey bats in the 'Wizard of Oz.' "
Burnett, who has studied bats for 12 years, debunked several other bat myths:
• Bats won't try to attack you, unless you bother them. "They're more scared of you than you are of them," Burnett said. "To them, you look like Godzilla or King Kong."
• Vampire bats can be found in South and Central America and parts of Mexico, but they aren't native to the U.S. They also are mighty rare, accounting for only three of the more than 1,100 species of bats. And they don't suck blood; they bite into animals but lick the blood -- at most a teaspoonful for one meal.
• The saying "blind as a bat" doesn't make sense. All bats can see, some better than the average human.
Full Article
Bats can see just fine, enjoy snuggling and are related to monkeys
BY MARK RICE
Staff Writer
The coolest thing about bats is that their wings actually are their hands.
That's what 11-year-old Jaz Jarzewiak concluded after hearing Sunday's program at the Columbus State University Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center.
"Their wings are just skin really stretched out," said Jaz, a sixth-grader in the International Baccalaureate program at Richards Middle School. "So they really glide more than fly, because they don't have as much muscles."
"As many," corrected Jaz's fraternal twin brother, Ian.
Ian also disagreed with Jaz about the coolest bat fact Clayton State University biology professor Stephen Burnett told 30 people during the first of his two presentations.
"Bats really are related to monkeys," Ian said.
Jaz laughed and added, "That's kind of odd. You don't think they would be, except for the monkey bats in the 'Wizard of Oz.' "
Burnett, who has studied bats for 12 years, debunked several other bat myths:
• Bats won't try to attack you, unless you bother them. "They're more scared of you than you are of them," Burnett said. "To them, you look like Godzilla or King Kong."
• Vampire bats can be found in South and Central America and parts of Mexico, but they aren't native to the U.S. They also are mighty rare, accounting for only three of the more than 1,100 species of bats. And they don't suck blood; they bite into animals but lick the blood -- at most a teaspoonful for one meal.
• The saying "blind as a bat" doesn't make sense. All bats can see, some better than the average human.
Full Article