Image Source

The only mammal capable of true flight, there are over 1100 different species of bat. Bats account for over 20% of all mammal species. You just don’t know about their numbers owing to their being nocturnal, and that they fly unseen, silently overhead. Maybe if they glowed in the dark like fireflies we would realize just how many of them there are in the night skies. I think that this would make them even more scary, to witness their incredible numbers.

Bats As Symbols of Fear, of Unseen Power

A bat design on a terra-cotta roof tile (although it looks more like a piece of OREO cookie, yes? Where’s the glass of milk?)

Image Source

There is something seemingly malevolent about bats. It is as if there is some ancestral memory in play. Invoking the image of a bat is to summon those fears reflected in those beady black eyes. Fear. That is why there are images of bats on door knockers, Halloween cards and like this image above, of an old (broken) roof tile.

A fear of bats is rather common. Certainly those stupid unscripted but oh-so choreographed eye-candy TV programs like “Girly Ghost Hunters” would be remiss if it weren’t for the screaming and the futile waving of hands in the air and screaming “Oh My God What Was That?!?!” The dumbing-down of an already brain-pacified audience as a small (and I’m talking nearly minuscule) lone bat flies devilishly around the room, trying to escape the screaming women, the lone cameraman and bad TV fare in general.

Scary Yes. But Can they Do Funny?

Sure, why not. They are somewhat comical if you brace yourself.

Image Source

Some 70% of bats are insectivores, making them really beneficial for humans as they naturally rid insects that plague us. They each eat hundreds per night, insects such as mosquitoes, gnats, moths, -and many more. Bats also pollinate flowering species of cacti too, the ones that drink nectar pickup pollen from one flower and pass it along to other flowers. Many tropical flowers and plants are entirely dependent upon this pollination entirely from bats, and would become extinct if it weren’t for this service these bats provide.

Many Different Faces. All of the Bats

Image Source (Public Domain Image)

Scarier than your worst nightmares, the many faces of bats are far more grotesque in features and form than science fiction monsters of the 50s and earlier. But like aliens evolved from a dark world of perpetual night, these are the faces of the terror on this world. They are bats!

The Good, The Bad and the Alcohol

One of my favorite beverages uses a bat as its Corporate Logo. Even its name means “bat” if I recall correctly.

Image Source

Follow me into the Night!

Image Source

Bats by the thousands stream from deep caves in places like New Mexico. Looking more like migrating birds, it can take hours for swarms of bats to exit the caves once their nightly feeding session has begun.

Bats in the Attic, Anyone?

Image Source

This is more the way we know bats, just a lone member of a familial colony but for some reason, separated briefly from kin. Visible but for a few moments before its creeps away to hidden seclusion again. Bats do not like agitation or commotion so the places where they reside if it receives too much human activity, they will relocate elsewhere. Bats enjoy private, quiet places.

There are even ‘bat houses’ that you can buy or build yourself, to encourage bats to take up residence in your area. This is great for pest insect population control. Many farms where stock animals are kept use these bat houses to control mosquitoes and fly population which otherwise would stress the livestock with their annoyances (biting, stinging, egg-laying, etc.)

Image Source

Here is a nectar-feeding bat enjoying a free snack at a hummingbird feeder. These are the bats that perform pollination of flowers and cacti in the deserts and tropics.

The Flying Fox

Image Source

Ranging is size from just over one inch (Kitti’s Hog-nosed Bat) to the 5-foot wide wingspan of the Giant Golden Crowned Flying Fox; bat species come in all sizes. The Fruit bat (above) is a species found chiefly on the islands of the Malay-Indonesia archipelago. And their cute little faces DO look like foxes, or ermine (ferrets.)

Image Source

Bats exist in many different regions, from temperate to desert to tropical. Seeing bats resting in a palm tree is somehow unsettling for me. It would be like seeing a Polar Bear in the Caribbean. On the beach. -What’s wrong with this picture? Hmm.

Image Source

Bats can carry the rabies disease so if one is in your house flying around, make every effort to first, don’t get bitten. But do get the bat outside as soon as possible. Open a door or window to allow it to escape. Their echolocation will usually let them know that there is an egress, and they will quite willingly leave. There may need to be a human witness to verify that they bat has indeed, left the premises, or else the other human residents of the home will not sleep easily that evening!

Maybe with a small bit of coaxing from you using a flyswatter or broom, but bats are quite agreeable with a gently forced exodus. Don’t kill the bat though. It is illegal to kill bats in many states, as they are a protected species. Fortunately, there is nothing that bats want or require from humans (except for incidental living accommodation) so they stay away from us and our activities. They are not like mice or rats which seem to be drawn towards human hospitalities with the promises of food and shelter and thus, are more difficult to be rid of. Bats should be welcomed, albeit, kept at a safe distance. And more assuredly, they would prefer to be left alone by us.