There has been a lot of talk about bats over the last year, and now you get to be up close and personal with these nocturnal creatures!

Join the Museum on Tower Hill this March for the opening of Listen to the Night: Bats of Ontario, a travelling exhibition on loan from the Royal Ontario Museum. This exhibition looks to explore these mysterious animals and teaches individuals about the vital importance that they play within our ecosystem. It aims to educate the public on current issues surrounding the growth and development of bats, while encouraging a more positive outlook towards our not-so-threatening furry friends.

Interested in a certain aspect of the bat? This exhibition covers everything from health and hibernation to echolocation and the different types of roosting. Learn about flight patterns, senses, and the diversity amongst these misunderstood mammals.

Know what the professionals know by educating yourself on the current research that is being conducted on the bat. Examine behavioural patterns, learn about issues of conservation and study the different threats that are contributing to the decline of bats within Ontario.

Discover the bat like never before!

Below is a list of interesting facts and tips for helping bats taken from the “Bat Conservation Guide” developed by the Toronto Zoo. Together we must do all that we can to protect our furry friends. To read the full pdf click here.

Bat Facts!

• Bats have inhabited the night skies for more than 50 million years.

• Over 70% of bats are insectivorous but many others consume fruit, nectar and pollen.

• Eastern Canada is home to eight species of insectivorous bats, three of which are endangered.

• Their wings are much the same as human hands, with a thumb and four fingers, except their digits are connected by a double layer of skin.

• Bat’s sonar ability is so sophisticated that it can detect objects smaller than a human hair and intercept those objects at speeds greater than 30km/h.

• A brown bat is capable of eating its own body weight in insects in a single night – up to 600 bugs per hour.

• Although three bat species (hoary, eastern red, silver-haired) migrate, the majority of Canadian bats survive the winter by hibernating.

• By slowing down their heart rate, breathing and metabolism they can cool their body temperature down to approximately the same temperature as their surroundings.

• Deforestation, pesticide use, unnecessary eviction procedures and mine closures are reducing bat populations dramatically.

• White Nose Syndrome mortality rates in caves can approach 100% making it one of North America’s most destructive wildlife diseases in the past century.

• Bat boxes increase the available roosting sites and may eliminate any unnecessary killing or eviction of bats.

Things you can do to help bats

• Support legislation that protects natural habitats and wildlife

• Educate yourself about bats using books, video and the internet

• Educate and reassure others who are afraid of bats

• Write letters to editors that print inaccurate material about bats

• Join a conservation organization that works to protect bats

• Put up a bat box

• Visit and support facilities that have bats on display and are involved in bat conservation

• Become a bat biologist or volunteer for a bat research project

• Support sustainable forestry, plant a tree

• Keep your property as natural as possible, restrict the use of pesticides

• Reduce, reuse, recycle

This exhibition is in partnership with: