# Bat poo **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 13, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935 "2009-09-13T18:41:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/1 "2009-09-13T18:41:15Z")
Since bats hang upside-down, how do they defecate without getting it all over themselves? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/2 "2009-09-13T18:52:31Z")
If I remember correctly (from an article on the Mexican free-tail bat), they do their bat-doody as they release themselves from the ceiling for their night’s activities. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/3 "2009-09-13T19:04:45Z")
Various behaviors are used. Some species defecate mainly in flight. Others may defecate and urinate while roosting by reversing position briefly and hanging from the ceiling by their wing claws and directing the rear end downwards. Still others may continue to hang from the ceiling by the hind legs but tilt the head and upper body backwards so that feces and the urine stream don’t contact the fur. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/4 "2009-09-13T19:25:11Z")
_sings_ Bat boys, bat boys, what’cha guano do? What’cha guano do when they poop on you? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/5 "2009-09-13T19:57:56Z")
You know, I have never thought to wonder this, but the moment it was asked I burned to know. Thank you, SDMB! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/6 "2009-09-13T20:02:12Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > You know, I have never thought to wonder this, but the moment it was asked I burned to know. Thank you, SDMB! What’s amazing is that there are people here who have actually studied this shit! Thank you **Colibri**! (And you too, **beowulff**.) ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/7 "2009-09-13T20:24:16Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > _sings_ > > Bat boys, bat boys, what’cha guano do? > What’cha guano do when they poop on you? Shit that was funny 🙂 You made my day. Where can I get the CD ? ! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/8 "2009-09-13T20:33:22Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > _sings_ > > Bat boys, bat boys, what’cha guano do? > What’cha guano do when they poop on you? As an aficionado of the fine art of SDMB thread-relevant parodies, I have to say this is one fine example of the genre. **Applause** ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2009, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/9 "2009-09-13T22:58:11Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Various behaviors are used. Some species defecate mainly in flight. Others may defecate and urinate while roosting by reversing position briefly and hanging from the ceiling by their wing claws and directing the rear end downwards. Still others may continue to hang from the ceiling by the hind legs but tilt the head and upper body backwards so that feces and the urine stream don’t contact the fur. My husband, who actually rehabilitated and later released back into the wild an injured bat, confirms this. The bat typically either bent her body away from the direction of the waste stream while hanging upside down, or, if she had descended from her perch, deposited waste on the bottom of her cage in such manner it didn’t foul her fur. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/10 "2009-09-14T02:12:34Z")
No bat would ever be so unprepared as to poop itself. They are always prepared for that. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/11 "2009-09-14T02:16:27Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > As an aficionado of the fine art of SDMB thread-relevant parodies, I have to say this is one fine example of the genre. **Applause** Yeah, this thread is INSANE! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/12 "2009-09-14T02:17:25Z")
OK, you get a _snerk_ for that one. ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/13 "2009-09-15T12:45:38Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > My husband, who actually rehabilitated and later released back into the wild an injured bat, confirms this. The bat typically either bent her body away from the direction of the waste stream while hanging upside down, or, if she had descended from her perch, deposited waste on the bottom of her cage in such manner it didn’t foul her fur. PSA: [QUOTE=CDC] Rabies can be confirmed only in a laboratory. However, any bat that is active by day, is found in a place where bats are not usually seen (for example, in a room in your home or on the lawn), or is unable to fly, is far more likely than others to be rabid. Such bats are often the most easily approached. Therefore, it is best never to handle any bat. [/QUOTE] From [here.](http://www.cdc.gov/RABIES/bats.html) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/14 "2009-09-15T19:18:42Z")
Now this is an aspect of the Batcave that wasn’t adequately explored in the comics. Holy inverted defecation issues! ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/15 "2009-09-15T19:22:55Z")
I have to add that bats at a home I know of drop stuff that looks like large mouse turds. It’s not liquid so i don’t see where pooping upside down is a problem. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/16 "2009-09-15T23:09:08Z")
I’ve seen bats in a museum exhibit urinate. They were IIRC identified as Egyptian Tomb Bats. They urinated while upside down. The stream started at high pressure, arced wide of the bat, and cut off immediately rather than dribbling. The bats didn’t even have to move to avoid getting a single drop on themselves. I did not have the chance to see any of the bats make guano. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/17 "2009-09-16T04:35:38Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > I have to add that bats at a home I know of drop stuff that looks like large mouse turds. It’s not liquid so i don’t see where pooping upside down is a problem. The droppings of insectivorous bats will mostly consist of insect exoskeletons, and so will usually be fairly dry and crumbly. Bats that eat other things may have less solid droppings. ---
**Author:** ![CT\_Damsel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/18 "2009-09-16T04:46:36Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > _sings_ > > Bat boys, bat boys, what’cha guano do? > What’cha guano do when they poop on you? freak’n sweet! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/19 "2009-09-16T10:40:50Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > PSA:From [here.](http://www.cdc.gov/RABIES/bats.html) Yes, yes, thank you for your PSA, we covered that _extensively_ in the thread where I mentioned we had a bat in the house. I’ve said a thousand times I wasn’t keen on the bat in the house. At no time was there ever any direct contact between human and bat. The bat was not, in fact, found at an usual bat time or bat location. The unusual behavior was been half frozen to death i.e. severely hypothermic, and as it has been _several_ years since that episode and no one in the house has come down with rabies I think we’re in the clear. I would never recommend anyone else do what my husband did, although he did have the good sense to contact a bat expert in Texas who has experience in rehabilitating inured bats. By the way, _she_ doesn’t recommend the average person take that one, either. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2009, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935/20 "2009-09-16T11:34:33Z")
And as an aside, there is an issue with bats … [white nose syndrome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_nose_syndrome) that is decimating bat populations. I know the idea that a die off in the bat population may sound inconsequential, but bats keep a major part of the insect population under control. [National Speleological Society](http://www.caves.org/) has more information and is taking donations for research on the issue. It is also tax deductable… Bats are really cute, I have several bat boxes around my property. It makes a huge difference in the annoying bugs, especially the junebugs and mosquitos! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bat-poo/509935.md?page=2)