Owls and bats at night, oh my!

By TOM LAVENTURE

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Hurley - The Hurley Public Library summer kids program continued Wednesday at Riccelli Park with "Critters of the night," a presentation on the unique features of nocturnal animals.

"Not everybody sleeps at night," said Licia Johnson, an education director and naturalist with the North Lakeland Discovery Center, who teaches the weekly summer science learning experience. "A lot of animals are active and they have a lot of cool adaptations to be able to do that."

Extra sensitive hearing, eyesight and sense of smell are just some of the adaptations of nocturnal animals, she said. They have abilities based on a combination of these, that allow them to be active when daytime creatures are not.

The kids studied the differences and similarities of various nocturnal animals with a look at pelts of wolves, coyotes, foxes, raccoons and skunks. There was also a stuffed owl and preserved wings, and a live bat.

"We talked about some of their adaptations that they have to be active at night, and focused mostly on owls and bats," Johnson said.

Owls have unique adaptations such as large eyes that sit unmoving in their head, but have 14 bones in their neck to allow their head to turn 270 degrees, she said. Humans have seven bones by comparison.

"It's not a full 360 degrees like a lot of people think, but they can actually turn their heads upside down as well," Johnson said.

The kids also took a close look at owl wing feathers that have an eyelash shape which helps reduce the amount of wind they produce when flying.

"So they fly silently," she said.

The kids were able to observe the sharp and strong owl talons that they use to grab their prey. They saw owl "pellets," which are undigested and regurgitated parts of the prey they eat.

The conversation moved on to bat adaptations with wings and how their fingers are connected by skin to form their wings. They also talked about echo-location, which is the ability of the bat to create sonar sounds with their mouth that bounces back to their highly sensitive ears to enable them to maneuver without sight at night.

Bats get a bad wrap and a lot of it is undeserved, she said. They fly around at night which just freaks people out.

"They think that they're gonna get rabies from every bat," Johnson said. "A very small percentage of bats actually have rabies, and most of those show symptoms, you know, they're on the ground or out during the day, and they're not acting like bats should be acting."

It's against the law to kill bats, she said. They are threatened due to white nose syndrome and so are a protected species in Wisconsin.

"The brown bat is one of our most common bats but it's also one of the most affected by white nose syndrome, unfortunately," she said. "So we've lost a good chunk of our population."

The brown bat eats an average of 1,200 mosquitoes an hour, she said. Farmers are finding this natural form of bug control is cost effective and safer than chemicals, she said.

The kids got a look at Edgar, a big brown bat that cannot fly after its wing was damaged by a door, the bat is cared for by the center and used in presentations.

"So, he can't fly," she said. "So that's why we have him as an educational animal."

Rachel Ofstad, the assistant librarian at the Hurley Public Library, said the Wednesday summer kids program will conclude with "T-Shirt and Bandana Stamping" at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11 at Riccelli Park or the library, depending on the weather.

"We're skipping next week, and then the following week we'll be doing the stamping," she said.

Using rubber items shaped like fish and feet or leaves, the kids will learn about the topic of choice and make a stamped bandana or shirt to take home. Bandanas will be provided by the library and kids are asked to bring their own T-shirts, preferably white.

For information on the program, contact the Hurley Public Library at 715-561-5707.