Most people associate bats with the deep night, seeing them as shadowy figures darting through the air. These nocturnal mammals are highly specialized flyers. A persistent cultural myth suggests that bats intentionally fly toward human heads, aiming to get tangled in hair, fueling unnecessary fear about these insect-eating fliers.
The Truth About Bats and Hair
The notion that a bat would deliberately target a person’s hair is false. Bats are not attracted to hair as a nesting material or a food source. If a bat appears to be swooping close to a person, it is attempting to catch a small insect flying nearby. Flying insects like moths and mosquitoes are often drawn to the carbon dioxide humans exhale, which brings the bat’s feeding path close to people.
A bat views a human as a large obstacle that must be avoided. The flight pattern might seem erratic, but the bat is simply maneuvering to intercept its prey. These animals are focused entirely on consuming flying arthropods. A healthy bat’s navigation system is too sophisticated to result in a collision with a large, stationary object like a person.
Understanding Bat Navigation
The reason bats can fly so close to objects without striking them is due to an advanced biological sonar system called echolocation. To navigate and hunt in the dark, a bat emits high-frequency, ultrasonic sound pulses through its mouth or nose. These sounds are far above the range of human hearing, typically between 15,000 and 150,000 Hertz. The sound waves travel outward, bounce off objects, and return to the bat’s specialized ears as echoes.
By interpreting these echoes, the bat constructs a detailed, three-dimensional map of its surroundings in real-time. This system is so precise that some species can detect an object as narrow as a single strand of human hair from several meters away. The bat uses shifts in the echo’s frequency to determine the object’s distance, size, speed, and texture. This navigational acuity makes accidental entanglement highly improbable unless the bat is sick or injured, which impairs its ability to echolocate effectively.
Practical Safety: Handling Bat Encounters
While the fear of a bat flying into one’s hair is misplaced, the animal presents a minor health concern that warrants caution. Bats are the primary source of human rabies cases in North America, a viral disease that is almost always fatal once symptoms appear. The vast majority of bats in the wild, estimated at more than 99%, do not carry the virus.
A bat found indoors, especially one acting strangely (such as flying during the day or unable to fly), should be handled with extreme care. If a bat is found in a room with a sleeping person or an unattended child, it should be captured and tested for rabies, as their tiny teeth can leave an unnoticed bite wound. Never attempt to touch a bat with bare hands, even if it appears dead or docile. The safest protocol is to contain the bat in a single room by closing the door and then immediately contacting local animal control or public health authorities for guidance on safe removal and testing.