This is a Little Brown Bat. They are native to Indiana, which is where I am. On a warm evening you can see them darting about. Little Brown Bats are not the cutest of animals but they have an awesome purpose. They eat mosquitoes. A lot of mosquitoes! Up to half their body weight. They also eat wasps and moths.
Bats have a bad reputation that is based on rumors and folk lore. This little guys looks fearsome, but he has his mouth open because he is echo-locating for his food and for his surroundings. He lets out a high pitched sound that human's can't hear but it bounces back off of objects like trees and bugs into his huge ears and he can tell with great clarity and quickness where those objects are and what they are. Amazing!
Little Brown Bats are in trouble. Many have come down with an illness called white nose syndrome. It makes it difficult for the bats to hibernate and they die of starvation. And people also kill them because they see them as a nuisance. Here in Indiana they are on the endangered species list. One way to help is to build a bat house. For more information about bats follow this link Bat Facts. For instructions on building a bat house follow this link Bat House.
This painting is 8 x 10 and available for sale for $50. If you would like to buy it please email me at lauraparkhurstillutrator@gmail.com. Thanks for following my art. Tomorrow will be another spooky animal picture for Halloween! Hope you can come by and see it.
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