Bats are some of the most mysterious creatures to ever walk the earth, and so it’s quite often that you find all kinds of questions regarding bats. They are mostly ‘night runners’ so answers to these questions rely on research by specialists and experts on the field.

There are hundreds of different species of bats and so as you would expect different species have different behavioral traits.



A little history on evolution
• It has been hypothesized that bats normally walked the ground.
• They are the only flying mammals so are often confused for birds
• Bats are the slowest reproducing animals in consideration of their size and can give birth to as few as one pup a year
• They are wild animals and health hazards responsible for spreading rabies so it is a fineable offense to attempt to domesticate them in the United States.
• Most of the species need at least a 2 to 3 feet fall before they can pick flight

The vampire bats
Vampire bats have been seen to be regaining the ability to not only walk but also run in experiments performed by scientists. They mostly feed on cows’ blood as they sleep, so it only makes sense that they can walk across the cow’s huge body. Being the most common bat, the vampire bat has been observed to have the ability to walk forwards, sideways and backwards. They also attain flight easily by making only a single vertical jump into the air off the ground.

They run/ walk on all fours although they seldom do it and when they use this ability it’s a very clumsy walk. No wonder they don’t do it often.

These vampire bats are commonly found in Central America and south America, basically the tropics of the Americas and of course in labs of our awesome mad scientists.

The short tailed bats.
Due their preferred diet, which includes pollen, non-airborne arthropods and some plants, the bats do need to be able to walk at ground level. They have strong hind or what we would call lower limbs and feet and also fold their wings to manage stable motion.

The short tailed bats are mostly indigenous in new Zealand.

Fun Fact
Most bat species feed on bugs. They feed on more than 100 bugs in an hour so being airborne is a perk that comes in handy.

Read the How to get rid of bats page for helpful information and to learn more about Can bats walk on the ground?

Can bats walk on the ground?