How Do Bats Find and Drink Water?

Bats commonly live close to a source of water, but this is mostly because of the bugs that live around water. These bugs make up a huge part of the bats diet. Up to seventy percent of it, in fact. Bats also live close to a source of water to drink at the same time, something that many people do not realize. They actually drink quite a lot of water, and this is even more so if the bat is a pregnant or breastfeeding one. They require a much higher water intake because of the increased stress on the body.



If you have a pool in your garden, there's a good chance that bats in the area would have taken a swig of it from time to time. They can't land and then drink, unlike other animals, so they swoop in close to the surface of the water and drink as they fly. You must admit, it's a pretty incredible feat, and not something easily achieved. They do this to avoid predators. They don't know that your swimming pool doesn't contain fish or other animals that would love to take a bite out of them, so they drink on the move to avoid any danger. Plus, it saves a lot of time too!

Can bats swim? Yes they can! I actually saw it once! A bat flew too close to the surface of a lake and fell in. Then it swam to shore. It looked a bit crazy! It crawled out, and crawled on the ground a bit, then up a tree, then it took off. Read about Bats on the ground: do bats walk or even touch the ground?

Bats will keep doing this swooping and drinking motion until they have had enough water, and this can carry on for a while. They drink more after they have woken up, before they head out to find food.

Very few people have actually seen bats drinking, and this is because they do it so fast, you would need some pretty impressive camera gear to capture the wonderful scene. There are a few people on the internet who have managed it, and to give you an idea of how rare it is, those media reports always create quite the stir.

Learn more about Bats in the attic