04/10/2026
It's Bat Appreciation Month, and bats are firmly in my top ten animals. Here are a few bat facts you might not know.
Bats' wings are actually hands. The scientific name for bats, Chiroptera, means "hand-wing". Underneath that thin skin are long finger bones, just like ours, only stretched.
They don't have to work to hang upside down. A special locking system in the tendons of their feet holds them in place, so they can hang without using any energy. It's so effective that bats sometimes stay hanging even after they've died.
Around one in five mammal species on Earth is a bat. That's over 1,400 species.
Brown long-eared bats, found here in Wales, have ears almost as long as their bodies. When they rest, they fold them back under their wings.
South Wales is home to some of the UK's most important colonies of greater horseshoe bats, one of our rarest species.
Bats are also more closely related to horses, cats and whales than they are to mice.
As the weather gets colder, UK bats are getting ready to hibernate. Waking a hibernating bat uses up precious fat reserves it needs to survive the winter, so if you ever find bats roosting, leave them undisturbed and contact the Bat Conservation Trust for advice.
Which fact surprised you most?
