Bat Migrations and Design

Bat Migrations and Design

The disappearance of bats from various areas of the world when winter approaches has puzzled scientists for years. Dr. Edward Hume of the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior led a study of bat migrations to determine where the bats go and how they get there. Monitoring bat migration is difficult because bats are fast and travel at night. They have a very low mass, roughly an ounce, so tags used for birds are too heavy for bats.

New tags developed by Hume and his associates weigh roughly a gram (1/454th of a pound), so they can follow bat migrations. Research has shown that bats use the warm fronts that precede storms to ride the winds to travel as much as 1000 miles. There are many variables in this system, meaning that the timing and direction of the winds must be very precise to carry the bats where they need to go.

There is a very practical reason for understanding bat migrations. Wind turbines can kill large numbers of bats, so knowing the timing of the migrations can reduce this problem by shutting down the wind turbines. Bats are essential to control insect populations and produce guano used in fertilizers.

Romans 1:20 says we can know there is a God through the things He has made. Every creature science has studied shows unique characteristics. The “Does God Exist?” program has five volumes of books titled “Dandy Designs,” showing many of these, and more volumes will soon be available. The evidence for God’s wisdom and design increases with every discovery science makes.

— John N. Clayton © 2025
Reference: “Bats catch a lift from storm winds on long-distance migrations,” NPR for January 4, 2025, by Jonathan Lambert.


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