How do those bats reproduce?

By Emma of Bank Street School For Children, NYC.

How bats reproduce is a fascinating thing. Before hibernation, the male bat will deposit his sperm into the female's body. The female will store the male sperm inside her uterus until after hibernation. After hibernation, the female will ovulate. This is when one of the female's eggs will move into the uterus. Here the egg will be fertilized by the sperm. The gestation period is two months, unlike humans, whose gestation period is nine months.

When the mother is going to give birth she will hang upside down in the cave and make a cradle with her wings. Then, she will deliver her baby with her own hands. Since the cradle is there, the baby will not fall. The baby will crawl from the cradle that the mother made with her wings, to her breast where the baby will begin nursing.

The baby does not weigh much in the first few months of its life. So during the early months, the mother will take the child with her to get food for two reasons: the baby is light enough to carry, and the baby can't take care of itself. When the baby is big enough to take care of itself, and too big for the mother to carry, the mother will leave the baby in the cave when she gets food.

Return To: School For Children Environmental Science

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