Bats are frightening creatures to most of the people because they have a quite secret way of life. The "creatures of the night" waken superstitious ideas, that shape the attitude of many people to these animals even today.

It's the only mammal, that masters the active fly. In the deepest darkness they are able to orientate themselves by their own voice with the help of sonar. Therefore they permanently make sounds in the ultra sound range, not noticeable to our ears. Only high-tech instruments can detect these sounds. The ultrasonic waves meet an object, are reflected and received from the bat's ear. This way the bat locates hindrances as well as food. The bat determines from the time difference of the sent and received impulse the distance, the flight course and the speed of its prey.

In Germany there live 22 species of bats. A whole lot of them are mainly to be found in settlements.

The Long-eared bats are remarkable for their immense horns, which are three times longer than their head is. The ears are put under the wings during the day-sleep and the hibernation, so that only the long, pointed ear-lid is to be seen. Long eared bats mainly eat moths. The prey is caught near the ground, but also picked up during the rattling flight from the ground or the vegetation. In Central Europe there live two species of them, but they differ only a little.

The Mouse-eared bat is the largest native bat with a wingspan of about 35 cm. It mainly lives in open, park-like landscapes, where it captures beetles, grasshoppers, crickets and spiders. During the summer the females come together in communities, where they bear and rear their youngs. These maternity rooms are at the warmest places of their accommodation, without any draught. Often they are to be found under gabled roofs.

Upto 4500 animals were met in some maternity rooms in the middle of the 20th century. Nowadays this species is declining.

Their winterquarters are caves, mines and cellars. They can be 200 km far from the summerquarter.