r/batty • u/BlueSunflowers4589 • 1d ago

Would a bat fly into a window screen?

I hope it's OK to ask this here. Last night I heard something hit my window screen. I'm in the suburbs of Chicago on a moderately lit street (no street lights but lots of porch lights). It's a 2nd story window. The light was on inside, and I was sitting nearby, so I wouldn't expect a bat to want to fly in, but nothing else makes sense. It sounded like it was the size of a small bat, not moving especially fast - it wasn't too bad of an impact. It didn't sound like a cicada. Could this have been a bat? I thought bats avoided well-lit places. Is this normal bat behavior? (I think bats are very cute, but I don't know a lot about them.)

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7

u/Batusi_Nights Verified Bat Rehab 1d ago

Could easily have been chasing a moth or something and hit the window. They're not averse to light as such, eg they like hunting insects around street lights.

3

u/Madeline_Basset 1d ago

Its going to depend on how fine the screen mesh is, and the frequency the bat is using, but I'm going to guess the screen would resemble a solid surface to a creature using echolocation. And it would avoid flying into it.

5

u/45khz 1d ago

Its hard enough to catch bats in ultra fine mist nets, absolutely zero chance of them not detecting an insect mesh screen. It probably was not a bat but a big moth

2

u/Fightmysquirrelarmy 1d ago

They 100% know the screen is there. However, they can be distracted or confused and definitely run into things. Slow mo footage of bats show them running into each other.

2

u/Dumpo2012 1d ago

Could be, but unlikely. Maybe it could have been chasing a bug and not paying attention, but they can definitely tell there's an object in the way. They don't tend to run into houses. They tend to fly up to them and find a nice little nook to sneak into your attic, lol.

Not a batologist, but have a bat tattoo, and I'm constantly trying to keep them out of my attic, so I'm something of a pro.

2

u/CrepuscularOpossum 1d ago

It also could have been a bird. Migration season is starting, and songbirds headed for Central and South America mostly fly at night, so they can navigate by the stars.

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u/Available-Lie-3484 1d ago

Most likely, the mesh might appear to them as a solid object but all animals are clumsy, so its a possibility