Most kinds make their home in the tropics, where they can find food the year around. About 40 species of bats live in Canada and the United States. Through the centuries, people have passed on many superstitions and mistaken ideas about bats. All species of bats can see, probably about as well as human beings. The beliefs that bats carry bedbugs and get tangled in people's hair are also untrue.
Bats tend to be timid.
At night, they will try to fly out a window if they find themselves in a room. Many people in Western countries fear bats, but these animals are well liked in China and Japan. A number of Oriental artists have portrayed bats as signs of good luck, happiness, and long life. Most bats are harmless to people. But bats may have rabies.