Bat Sounds!

Have you ever heard a bat?  Did you know a bat makes sounds that we cannot hear?  That's right!  Bats use an echo-locator to pin-point insects flying in the air.  They emit an ultra-sonic "sonar" that is at a frequency far higher than the limits of human hearing.  The ultra-sonic waves of sound bounce off objects and the bats can hear the reflected sounds and re-construct an "image" from the reflected sound waves.  The sounds are very strong, yet we can't hear them.  Do you wonder what they would sound like if you hear them?

Fortunately, there have been means devised to convert or shift these ultra-sonic waves down to a frequency that we can hear.  I have recorded bats as they are busy flying above my back yard in Shreveport Louisiana.   I used an ultra-sonic translator that utilizes the heterodyne technique.  This is an inexpensive electronic device that I built from a kit.  There are many such devices available on the internet.  Many of these are available in kit form to save money.  If you have a basic familiarity of electronic components and can solder on printed-circuit boards, you may want to buy one of the kits.  I purchased mine for $20 from Transtronics: http://www.xtronics.com

Below are links to mp3 files of samples of my bat recordings.  The first one has a higher signal-to-noise ratio.  The second was done at a different frequency setting which produced a different result with more noise from the electronics.

Bat Sounds A (file size 96 kb)

Bat Sounds B (file size 97 kb)