Bats are such an interesting group of mammals.  They are not rodents but in the order Chiroptera.  There are 1000 species in the world, 43 species in the US, and 17 species in North Caroina, 7 of these are endangered.  There are 2 taxa of bats.  Megabats are not found in North America, only in Africa, Asia and Australia, they eat fruit, pollen and nectar.  Microbats dine on insects, fish, frogs, and occasinally birds and small mammals. A bat can eat 1 insect every 6 seconds.  Bats are a keystone species, which means without them the food chain would collapse and many species would be in trouble.  Biologists are concerned about the white nose fungus that is killing bats throughout the US, including NC. 
Here are a few bat facts:
A bat can live to be 30 years old.
Their heartbeat can reach 900 beats a minute when hunting.
Vampire bats sometimes urinate when drinking blood so that they won't be to heavy to fly.

There are over 175 species of Poison-arrow frogs found in the rainforests of South America (only 3 have poison strong enough to be dangerous to a human). All species are very small, just as big as your thumbnail, and have beautiful bright colors - blue, green, red, pink or gold with darker spots and stripes. Their colors warn potential predators, such as birds, that making a snack out of these frogs would be dangerous! The frogs get their name from an indigenous custom of using the poison from the frog’s skin to make their hunting darts and arrows more deadly - they are also often called "Dart frogs." The unique chemicals on the skin of these frogs are not only useful for hunting – scientists are researching ways to use them in a variety of medicine! Unfortunately, habitat loss has made many of these species endangered!

A Bromeliad is a plant with brightly colored, spiky flowers. They grow across the rainforests of South America. Their stiff waxy petals form bowls where rainwater collects. These tiny pools make unique micro-ecosystems and are the perfect place for tadpoles to grow up safely into frogs! In fact, over 300 species make bromeliad flowers their home. And if you’ve ever eaten a pineapple, you’ve had a bromeliad!

A rotten log is an excellent example of a habitat made up of primary consumers, secondary consumers, scavengers and decomposer.  The process begins when a tree is damaged by weather, insect or disease.  The bark will crack allowing moisture, fungus and bark beetles to begin the break down of the wood.  Over time the wood will soften and the tree will fall.  Once on the ground moisture will allow the bacteria and fungus to really move in and feed on the wood.  Bark Beetles, Ground beetles, bess beetles, rhino beetles,millipedes, wood lice, termites, and carpenter ants will feed on the wood as well.  Toads, frogs, salamanders, centipedes and spiders are secondary consumers that move in to eat the primary comsumers and decomposers.  The wood will gradually become soil which will attract the earthworms. The beetles will then move out to newer logs.  The entire process averages out to about ten years. 

Wetlands in our country are disappearing. Wetlands are waterlogged soil that is covered by shallow water at least part of the year.  water affects the plants and animals that live there. There are different types of wetlands.  Freshwater types are called marshes (near lakes, ponds and rivers), wet meadows (low lying ares), bogs and fens are cooler and higfh in acid, and swamps have trees and shrubs.  Saltwater marshes are affected by tides, mangrove swamps are warmer an in tropical locations.  Wetlands filter our water, protect from storms and flooding, are nurseries for fish, crustaceans and amphibians, they are stopovers for migratory birds, they store water and are beautiful.    to read more check out www.wetland.org.
Alligators nest in wetland areas,  Alligators breed in the Spring (April to May). A month after the noisy mating rituals and coupling, the female lays up to 50 eggs in a large (three feet tall and six feet wide) nest she constructed of mud, leaves and twigs on dry ground. Alligators do not sit on their eggs; that would crush the eggs. The rotting vegetation in the nest warms the eggs. The temperature of the nest determines the sex of the hatchlings. If the eggs are incubated over 93 degrees Fahrenheit (34 degrees Celsius), the embryo develops as a male; temperatures below 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) result in female embryos, between these temperatures, both sexes are produced. The female guards the nest from predators.

The eggs hatch in 2 months, producing hatchlings about 6 inches long (15 cm). The group of babies (called a pod) are protected by the female for about a year. Alligators are among the most nurturing of the reptiles.