Ever wondered about their ability to hang upside down? How do they sleep when they do so? Don't they get dizzy? Do they defecate on themselves?
Firstly, let's look at how they hang upside down without effort. If we were to hang using our hands, we would have to put effort into keeping our fingers clenched to hold on, meaning we would fall if we fell asleep and unclenched our hands. Bats on the other hand have a mechanism in their legs that uses their weight in order to close their feet without any effort at all. In other words, their relaxed feet position is that of clenched using their weight to hold on. Meaning they can sleep peacefully upside down without a care in the world.
Source: BWgovernment
When we hang upside down we get dizzy very quickly as the blood in our system would very quickly rush to our heads. But bats are too small for gravity to really have an effect on their circulatory system, so they are unaffected by their hanging upside down.
Now finally when they need to pee or poo they just turn themselves “right” way up to do so. So avoid defecating on themselves. Clever little creatures.
Author
Julien is French and Scottish, born in 1988 in Nairobi Kenya.
He's a professional Nature Guide and Trails Guide speaking both French and English. He has been lucky enough to have worked in some of the most amazing destinations Africa has to offer, from East Africa to Southern Africa, as well as some time in Central Africa.
From a very young age he knew he needed to work with animals, big or small, and somewhere in nature. He was always picking creatures up and trying to see the world from their perspective, trying to understand them as much as possible, mesmerised by their shapes and colours. He liked to share this passion with everyone around, always trying to get them involved in his discoveries. Nature is all around us, in Europe, Asia or Africa, all we have to do is realise it.