I still don’t want a pet bat, but . . .

Fruit Bat

I’ve learned since my last post here that bats have much to recommend them.  Yes, there are “bad bats” who carry and transmit coronaviruses to other animals, after which humans can become infected as a result of their own activity -- but it seems those bats are in the minority both geographically and numerically.   

In fact, an international team of scientists reportedly used genetic analysis to trace the likely origin of the novel coronavirus to (Chinese) horseshoe bats --pictured in the last post.  While they found evidence that the novel coronavirus behind our current pandemic may have evolved in Yunnan Province, they could not rule out an origin elsewhere in Southeast Asia outside China.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/science/coronavirus-bats-wuhan.html?campaign_id=34&emc=edit_sc_20200602&instance_id=19013&nl=science-times&regi_id=20760274&segment_id=29858&te=1&user_id=a360dad7b26df61ea65737080d3deedd

Batcon.org 

Which brings us to the “nice bats,” the ones we need and depend on.  And if you doubt that, just spend a while at www.batcon.org -- Bat Conservation International -- a site with lots of info and at least one terrific video showing various bat faces.  (Watch out: that video is startling.  I didn’t know there were so many different-looking bats, and although I still disagree with anyone describing bats as “cute,” they sure are . . . interesting looking.)

As batcon.org points out, bats are

   Important:  They consume vast numbers of insects including agricultural pests; they pollinate valuable plants; and they disperse seeds critical to restoring rain forests.

   Threatened:  Unsurprisingly, human activity destroys their habitats and some people see bats as consumable bushmeat.

        Misunderstood:  Bats are needlessly feared.  Of the more than 1,300 bat species, only three Latin American vampire bats feed on blood and just one of them targets mammals.

        Everywhere:  Perhaps most surprising, bats don’t live their lives isolated in dark caves; rather, they

Yuma myotis

interact on a daily basis with the same fields, forests, and waterways that we do.

·         Cool!  (True, once you learn about them!)

Further, we might all wish to be “blind as a bat,” because they’re far from it.  Not only do they see as well as just about any other mammal, but most bats also use a unique biological sonar system called echolocation, which lets them navigate dark caves and hunt fast-flying insects in total darkness. . . . Using sound alone, bats can see everything but color and detect obstacles as fine as a human hair.

One of the best things I've learned about bats is their voracious appetite for mosquitoes.  I can love bats because I hate mosquitoes.  Those like me who are special targets for mosquitoes can encourage bats in their neighborhoods and even provide bat houses, assuring hungry allies in the vicinity on those summer evenings outdoors.  

2020 US quarter

And not just any bat house will do, of course.  Remember that bats perch upside down and must drop down to fly, among other considerations taken into account by batcon.org and/or these Good Housekeeping (so apropos a source!) directions.

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/gardening/a20706363/how-to-attract-bats/

Affection, or at least respect for bats must be behind these three final “bat bits”: First, the 2020 US quarter features bats on one side; second, there’s at least one tasty looking recipe for bat (-looking!) cookies online; and finally, a webinar about bats this Wednesday (June 10, 3-4 pm) from the Humane Society of the US will provide useful info about bats.  

Click on the link below, then scroll to the bottom and click on “learn more” in the blue box.  Scroll down from “If you are the meeting host. . .” and click on “Join meeting as an Attendee.”  On the next screen, register to attend the webinar. 

https://www.animalsheltering.org/trainings/responding-calls-and-concerns-about-bats

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Peanut butter cups, Oreos & ???!

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