Posts Tagged ‘bats’

Sep
12

Animal Enrichment: Fruit Bats at Natural Encounters

Posted by in Enrichment,Events,Natural Encounters

The Houston Zoo keepers enrich all the animals, including bats!  Enrichment allows our animals to practice their natural, “wild” behaviors, such as foraging, exploring and even trying a new food.  This provides animals with the exciting and varied lives they would have  in the wild, but in a safe environment.  Keepers at the Zoo provide enrichment every day, but on September 24th we are bringing enrichment into the spotlight!

One of those spotlights will be the Straw-colored Fruit Bat colony located in the Carruth Natural Encounters Building.

Many people take one look at the bats and are frightened.  On Enrichment Day guests will be able to see these amazing and intelligent animals interacting with a variety of new enrichment in their habitat.  Be sure to stop by the Natural Encounters building at 10:40 am to see the bats explore their enrichment!  A bat keeper will be there to answer questions and help everyone understand why bats are so important.

Written by Kamryn Suttinger

Enrichment Day at the Houston Zoo is Saturday, September 24th.  This is a great opportunity to come and join in the fun.  Come out and see all of the animals enjoying special enrichment, hear keeper chats and loads of  fun games for kids of all ages!  Enrichment Day celebrates the meaning and joy of enriching our animals and visitors!

Find your favorite animals and see what they’re wishing for at Amazon.com. Then just sit back, shop, click and send your animal of choice a wonderful gift to enrich their life!  They really do appreciate it and so does the Houston Zoo!

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Jun
25

Go Batty During Pollinator Week!

Posted by in Bats,Pollinators,Spotlight on Species

It’s National Pollinator Week… so get out of the house and give thanks to the pollinators of the world (that includes bats!) by attending the Houston Zoo‘s 2nd Annual Spotlight on Species: Pollinators!  You may be familiar with bees that pollinate our crop plants, but did you know that some bats are pollinators too?  They are primary pollinators of delectable guavas; a favorite food of  primates big and small, the banana; and my favorite fruit EVER, mangoes.  Thank you, bats!!   Man, a bowl of fresh fruit salad would be good about now… but I digress.

Mmmmmmango....

Bats also pollinate many different cacti including the stately Saguaro, Arizona’s state cactus – that’s the one that looks like a tall, weird prickly green person with permanently bent arms…  (if you don’t have an overactive imagination as I do, here’s a picture).  AND, bats pollinate the Agave plant.  This is exciting to me because I love Agave nectar, but exciting to normal people because the Agave plant is used to make Tequila!  Have you ever had a margarita without tequila?  Well, its just boring.  So again, thank the bats for all those margaritas you probably don’t remember drinking.

Bats Emerging at Bracken Cave, TX

 

Most folks know about the Congress Avenue Bridge bat colony in downtown Austin, but that’s a bit of a drive for an after-dinner family excursion.  Want to get out and see bats here in Houston?  Check out the Waugh Bridge Mexican free-tailed bat colony one of these evenings…  all the action happens around dusk.  Most US cities don’t have a free bat show, so take advantage of the natural beauty Houston has to offer!  And be sure to thank all those bats for eating so many mosquitoes (unless you like mosquitoes, in which case you might see plenty of those too  - you just can’t lose!).  To learn even MORE about bat pollination click here and for general bat information, peruse the Bat Conservation International website.  Or better yet, join us at the Houston Zoo this weekend to learn all about bats and other fascinating pollinators!

 

Bat photo – NaturallyEarthFriendly.com

 

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Jun
22

A World of Pollinators

Posted by in Animal Info,Pollinators,Spotlight on Species

What the heck is a pollinator and why is the Houston Zoo having an event celebrating them?  A pollinator is an animal that helps a flowering plant complete its life-cycle by picking up pollen from one flower and physically moving it to another of the same type – this fertilizes the plant, allowing it to form seeds for the next generation.  The plant usually offers some sort of reward for this valuable service (sweet, sweet nectar…), but sometimes a plant will attract an animal to its flowers under false pretenses (check out these awesome examples!).  Pollinators are fascinating animals that also happen to provide humans with, oh, at least 30% of ALL the food we eat!

 

Malachite Sunbird, South Africa

 

About 1,000 different vertebrate species around the globe are pollinators – in this group are bats, birds, small mammals, lizards and even a lemur!  Bats are pollinators of some of our favorite edibles, such as mangoes and bananas – they also pollinate Agave, no doubt a very valuable plant to all you tequila lovers out there…

 

Mexico's Banana Bat (photo ©Marco Tschapka)

 

The vast majority of pollinators (a whopping 200,000 species) are invertebrates.   These can be beetles, bees, moths and butterflies, wasps, flies, ants and many others.  The most efficient pollinators in the world by far are bees.  You are probably familiar with the European honeybee, the bee that pollinates many of our crops and provides us with yummy honey.  But the European honeybee is only one of around 25,000 named bee species.  The United States alone has about 4,000 types of native bee – compare that to around 5,000 species of mammal in the entire world!  Want to learn more about our fantastic native bees?  Tune in next time…

 

Green bee on the shores of Lake Michigan

 

*photo credit, Malachite Sunbird: http://academic.sun.ac.za/botzoo/bruce/pollinator_adap.htm

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Jun
27

Bee-lieve it or Not…

Posted by in Adaptations,Animal Info,Birds,Children's Zoo,Conservation,Endangered,Events,Featured,Insects,Mammals,Natural Encounters,Pollinators,Primates,Reptile House,Reptiles,Swap Shop,Tropical Bird House

Blue Faced Honeyeater Photo courtesy of: www.plantbiology.siu.edu

Honeyeaters are important pollinators of many Australian flowering plants.  All 170 species of honeyeaters have a unique adaptation:  a long tongue with a brush-like tip that they use to get nectar from flowers.  The tongue can be extended into the nectar about 10 times per second!

Honeyeaters aren’t the only birds that help pollinate.  Honeycreepers, sunbirds, Brush-tongued parrots, and hummingbirds are just a few of the birds all over the world who are pollinators.  There are 2,000 bird species globally that feed on nectar, the insects, and the spiders associated with nectar bearing flowers. 

For more Bee-lieve it or Not facts, come join the Houston Zoo in celebrating National Polinator Week on June 26th and 27th. We will have tables and chats from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. all about our favorite pollinators.  Bee sure to  record your pollinating adventures in a nature blog to share at the Swap Shop!

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Jun
26

Bee-lieve it of Not…

Posted by in Adaptations,Animal Info,Children's Zoo,Conservation,Endangered,Events,Featured,Insects,Mammals,Natural Encounters,Pollinators,Primates,Reptile House,Reptiles,Swap Shop,Tropical Bird House

Bumblebee on Lantana

In the U.S., the economic value of pollination services provided by native insects (mostly bees) is estimated at $3 billion each year.  Bumblebees are highly efficient in pollinating many crops such as tomatoes, peppers, cranberries, and blue berries.  Yumm!  Best of all, most bumblebees won’t bother you unless you bother them.  When gardening at home, please consider using native plants.  Most of all, be kind to pollinators, consider going organic.  Insecticides tend to kill indiscriminately and will eliminate a lot of your pollinators.  The larger the variety of wildlife in your yard or garden (insects, birds, toads, lizards, etc.) the less “pest” insects you will have.  Naturally!

For more information on creating a native garden, visit: http://www.xerces.org/pollinators-south-central-region/

For more Bee-lieve it or Not facts, come join the Houston Zoo in celebrating National Polinator Week on June 26th and 27th. We will have tables and chats from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. all about our favorite pollinators.  Bee sure to  record your pollinating adventures in a nature blog to share at the Swap Shop!

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Jun
24

Bee-lieve it or Not…

Posted by in Adaptations,Animal Info,Birds,Children's Zoo,Conservation,Endangered,Events,Featured,Insects,Mammals,Natural Encounters,Pollinators,Primates,Reptile House,Reptiles,Swap Shop,Tropical Bird House

Photo taken by Jean-Christophe Vié

On the island of Madagascar, black and white ruffed lemurs are the main pollinators of traveler’s trees or traveler’s palm. These trees are typically 40-feet-high. They lemurs use their nimble hands to pull open the tough flower bracts. They stick their long snouts and tongues deep inside a tree’s flower. As a result, they collect pollen on their muzzle and fur, and then transport it to the next flower. The resulting fruits are a major source of food. It appears that no other creature has the strength and nimbleness to pollinate the palm. This gives the black and white ruffed lemur the award of the world’s largest pollinator!

For more information go to: http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/unusual.shtml

For more Bee-lieve it or Not facts, come join the Houston Zoo in celebrating National Polinator Week on June 26th and 27th. We will have tables and chats from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. all about our favorite pollinators.  Bee sure to  record your pollinating adventures in a nature blog to share at the Swap Shop!

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Jun
23

Bee-lieve it or Not…

Posted by in Adaptations,Animal Info,Birds,Children's Zoo,Conservation,Endangered,Events,Featured,Insects,Mammals,Natural Encounters,Pollinators,Primates,Reptile House,Reptiles,Swap Shop

Endangered Species Chocolate

What would a life without pollinators look like…Well a world with out chocolate!  That would be a pretty bleak world in my opinion.  Some of my favorite desserts are chocolate.  Others seem to agree because the chocolate industry brings in about $50 billion dollars a year worldwide!

Who do we have to thank for our delicious treats?  Bats and other pollinators!  Monkeys and other small mammals even help with seed dispersal.

Lesser long-nosed bat - Photo taken by Merlin D. Tuttle of Bat Conservation International

Chocolate isn’t the only food we can thank pollinators for.  Bats are the major pollinators  for bananas, dates, coconut, cloves, vanilla, Brazil nuts, avocados, and the agave plant (tequila)!

For more Bee-lieve it or Not facts, come join the Houston Zoo in celebrating National Polinator Week on June 26th and 27th. We will have tables and chats from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. all about our favorite pollinators.  Bee sure to  record your pollinating adventures in a nature blog to share at the Swap Shop!

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Jun
21

Bee-lieve it or Not…

Posted by in Adaptations,Animal Info,Conservation,Events,Featured,Insects,Mammals,Natural Encounters,Pollinators,Primates,Reptile House,Reptiles,Swap Shop,Tropical Bird House

Halictid Bee

You may be familiar with our country’s most widely utilized pollinator, the European honeybee… but did you know there are about 4,000 species of bee that are native to the United States?  Compare that number to the 5,000+ species of mammal in the entire world.

You can find about 200 bee species right here in Houston!  They are not aggressive and are great fun to watch – if you plant a pollinator friendly garden you might attract these little beauties to your own backyard!

 You can even build a bee house to attract these and other kinds of fascinating bees:  http://www.xerces.org/fact-sheets/

For more Bee-lieve it or Not facts, come join us in celebrating National Polinator Week on June 26th and 27th. We will have tables and chats from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. all about our favorite pollinators.  Bee sure to  record your pollinating adventures in a nature blog to share at the Swap Shop!

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Jun
19

National Pollinator Week!

Posted by in Adaptations,Animal Info,Children's Zoo,Conservation,Events,Featured,Insects,Mammals,Natural Encounters,Pollinators,Primates,Reptile House,Reptiles,Tropical Bird House

 

What is a reptile doing on a pollination page?  Well, normally we think of bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds as the major pollinators of the world, but did you know….

- There are 37 different species of lizards known to pollinate plants

- The seed production of agave plants (where tequila comes from) drops to one-three thousandth of normal when bats are not around to cross pollinate them

- On the island of Madagascar, black and white ruffed lemurs are the main pollinators of Traveler’s trees or Traveler’s palm

Come join us on June 26th and 27th to learn more about the pollinators around the world.  Meet-the-Keeper chats will be throughout the zoo to answer any and all questions about the pollinators you can see right here at the Houston Zoo!  Stop by and check out the tables supporting conservation efforts and activities throughout the zoo.

For more information on pollinators go to: http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/unusual.shtml

For more information on Day Geckos check out www.nbii.gov. Photo taken by Dennis Hansen

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May
03

Bat Awareness Day May 8th

Posted by in Adaptations,Animal Info,Children's Zoo,Conservation,Endangered,Enrichment,Events,Featured,Mammals,Uncategorized

Ever sat in your backyard on a nice clear, peaceful evening?  You sit and relax, enjoying the night sky when out of the corner of your eye you see a strange movement.  As you look closer you see a small winged shadow dancing in the sky.  You watch in wonder as it darts to and fro.  As you are mesmerized by this beautiful dance, you realize those are bats flying in your yard!  Suddenly you realize those bats are eating the mosquitoes that have left itching red welts on your arms.  

Here in Houston, we have eleven different species of bats.  The most common is the Mexican free-tailed bat.  Bats usually live in colonies that vary in size.  One colony of  100 Mexican free-tailed bats will eat 1,000 tons (2 million lbs.) of mosquitoes in one night.  That is a whole lot of mosquitoes not biting you!

On May 8th, we will be having Bat Awareness Day.  Throughout the day, there will be special bat chats in the Children’s Zoo.  You can also sign up for a class in the Backyard Wildlife Series devoted to our batty friends.  This class gives you the unique opportunity to build a bat house to hang in your own backyard.  You will learn more about bats and conservation.  All proceeds will be donated to the Friends of Trinity Wildlife Refuge, a local group that is involved in bat research and conservation.  You can sign up for this class by going to http://www.houstonzoo.org/backyard-wildlife-series/.

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