Carluke bat had a lucky escape!

Since the start of the year the Scottish SPCA has been alerted to a high number of animals who have received injuries from fishing tackle. Sadly, it has been mainly birds and seals that have become entangled in debris, however mid-July the charity were alerted to a young bat with a fishing hook through his face.

We Finally Know How Vampire Bats Are Able to Drink Blood And Survive

Vampire bats are probably not the cuddliest of critters, considering nearly their entire food source consists of blood. But how these furry little mammals ended up guzzling blood has puzzled researchers, and a new analysis shows their very distinct gut bacteria might be a big part of the story.

The batty, explosive history of bats in the military - and why this new idea just might work

The U.S. military has a long history of enlisting the help of animals in warfare. The bottlenose dolphin's sophisticated bio sonar enabled the Navy to detect and clear underwater bombs during the Iraq War, and homing pigeons played a vital role as secret messengers during both world wars, with some awarded medals for bravery.

Blood Is A Terrible Food Source - Yet Vampire Bats Thrive On It. Here's Why.

It sounds gross to humans - unless you read those "Twilight" books in which case maybe it's sexy - but a lot of animals consume blood. That's right, even your cat familiar. The question is why? Blood is actually a poor source of energy.

Marburg virus: Study of bat natural immunity may shed light on human disease - Outbreak News Today

Scientists examining the genome of Egyptian fruit bats, a natural reservoir for the deadly Marburg virus, have identified several immune-related genes that suggest bats deal with viral infections in a substantially different way than primates. Their research, published online today in the journal Cell, demonstrates that bats may be able to host viruses that are pathogenic ...

Egyptian fruit bat genome yields clues about bats' ability to harbor and transmit deadly pathogens without getting sick

Boston University researchers, Thomas Kepler, professor of microbiology; Stephanie Pavlovich, an MD/PhD student; and Elke Mühlberger, director, Biomolecule Production Core, National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories ...

New bats in Boulder: Summer could reveal if tri-colored bats have made their way into Colorado

This summer in Boulder could be a big one for the tri-colored bat, as researchers expect to find out in the coming months if the species - which has only been seen a handful of times in Colorado - has expanded to the Front Range.

Vampire bat immunity and infection risk respond to livestock rearing - UGA Today

The availability of livestock as a food source for vampire bats influences their immune response and infection by bacterial pathogens, according to a new paper in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. Because cattle ranching is common in areas where the bats live, the findings have implications for human as well as animal health.

Bat Swarms Tracked by Weather Radar Reveal Earlier Migration as Planet Warms

Stay informed about the latest climate, energy and environmental justice news. for the ICN newsletter. When millions of migrating bats fly toward their breeding cave near San Antonio, Texas, each spring, the shadowy, swirling swarm is so dense, it shows up on weather radar.

How a bat's brain navigates

Most of what we know about how the hippocampus, a region of the brain associated with memory formation and spatial representations, comes from research done on rodents. Rat brains have taught us a lot, but researchers in ...

I Want to Drink Your Blood: Vampire Bat's Genetic Secrets Revealed

If you want to know how vampire bats can survive on a diet that - as everyone knows - consists exclusively of blood, the answer is simple. It's in their genes.

Animals suffer through Australian heat

Hundreds of bats have died and a dog owner was charged with animal cruelty amid sweltering conditions in Australia, authorities say. Sydney experienced its hottest day since 1939 on Sunday when the mercury in the city's west hit 47.3C (117F). Bats, possums and birds have endured the most heat stress among native animals, according to wildlife workers.

Giant extinct burrowing bat discovered in New Zealand

The fossilized remains of a giant burrowing bat that lived in New Zealand millions of years ago have been found by a UNSW Sydney-led international team of scientists. Teeth and bones of the extinct bat -- which was about three times the size of an average bat today -- were recovered from 19 to 16-million-year-old sediments near the town of St Bathans in Central Otago on the South Island.

Why Bats Crash Into Buildings

"I had to have a closer look," he said. In his latest study, which he led with Sándor Zsebők, also at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Dr. Greif flew greater mouse-eared bats, a European species that often lives near humans, around a dark, rectangular flight tunnel.

Why Texans Dove Into Hurricane Harvey's Toxic Floodwaters To Rescue Bats Barehanded

I'm on the line with Erica Quinzel, lead animal care specialist for Bat World Sanctuary, as she climbs over a rocky incline to check to check a bridge in downtown Houston over the Buffalo Bayou river for surviving or injured bats.

Volunteers try to save colony of 250,000 bats from Houston floods

As Houston residents walks across the Waugh Bridge in the wake of Hurricane Harvey they were met with a startling sight - hundreds of dead and struggling bats floating in the water below. The bridge, a popular tourist destination in the city, is known for the estimated 250,000 Mexican free-tailed bats that live underneath it.