In America, the Dutch like to say, “everything is bigger.” The cars are longer, skyscrapers are taller, even some of trees are enormous. That cliche, it turns out, applies as well to bat houses.

European bat houses grew out of the discovery that bats sometimes used bird boxes placed in forests, so bat houses on the continent almost never exceeded about 20 inches high by 12 inches wide –smaller than the...more

Crouching in a low, hot attic, balanced on the rafters, I shined my red-filtered flashlight into the crevice between the chimney and roofline and watched as about 15 bats clambered deeper into the recess. I reached into the crevice and gently eased a bat into my hand. The little brown myotis clicked as I placed her carefully in a small cloth bag and shuffled my way backwards along the ceiling joist....more

Vampire bats do indeed drink blood – although they lap, not suck, it up. To do that, says the Los Angeles Times, the common vampire (Desmodus rotundus) typically settles onto a sleeping horse or cow, creates a tiny wound with razor-sharp teeth and spends up to half an hour lapping up about a tablespoon of blood. But that leisurely meal is possible only because the vampire has in its saliva ...more