The tiny voice box emits as many as 200 beeps a second as the brown bat homes in on an insect. Big ears pick up the sounds of returning echoes, and a brain weighing but milligrams computes the data and controls the hunter's speed and direction.

His cruising beeps are broadcast like an FM radio station at 100,000 cycles per second but are quickly scaled down to 40,000, 30,000 and 20,000 as he nears the target. It's at this point that the human ear can pick up his beeps.

Brown bats judge direction by comparing the echo at one ear with that at the other. Range to a target or barrier is judged by sensing the time delay between the outgoing pulse and the echo. Your science book may refer to this as sonar.

The Creator made bats so that some send out ten rhythmic clicks a second, which is sufficient to guide them in flight. This increased to a buzz of 200 a second, improving his accuracy as he approaches the target meal. Suppose that a mosquito dinner is but six inches from the bat's mouth. The time delay for the sound to make a round trip is about a thousandth of a second. This is time enough for the bat to swoop to the attack - a feat of nature than man with all his electronic skill cannot equal. But do not be misled - the brown bat does not catch his food in his mouth. He uses the stretched-out skin of his tail as a scoop, transfers the prey to his mouth, changes direction, and dives away to enjoy the morsel.

The unpredictable flight of bats against the evening sky is actually their skillful pursuit of darting insects. Motion pictures have shown a bat catching two flies in half a second. Another gobbled as many as 220 of the insects in fifteen minutes.

The Creator provided the bat with a magnificent listening device to aid in his search for food. God is concerned about you too. That's why He told you not to worry about your need for food and clothing. If you will listen for His directions He will provide more than you need.