The Bat Appreciation Zone

Bats. Why bats? It's not just that they're the world's only true flying mammal ("flying" squirrels just don't cut it). It's not that they are benign and in many cases beneficial.

Maybe it's because a major rum company used one on their logo. Or perhaps that they're considered lucky in places as widely separated as Cuba and China, or that one was a herald of victory to an embattled Castilian caballero. And the Maya and other indigenous people of Mesoamerica look on bats as messengers from the underworld... For me, they are truly beautiful creatures. I also have a bat as one of my underwirld shamanic allies.

Even without the spiritual dimension, there are many things to admire about bats. They are Nature's most efficient pest-control method- a single little brown bat can account for thousands of mosquitoes in a night, and the Mexican Free-tailed Bat colony in Bracken Cave, TX (huge enough that their nightly emergence is visible on radar hundreds of miles away!) consumes 250 tons of insects nightly. Bats are responsible for the pollination of many beautiful and valuable plants- the baobab and durian trees, saguaro and agave (tequila! what's not to like?) cacti, and many others, including a host of rainforest species. The world's smallest mammal is a bat, and giant Indonesian "flying foxes" have wingspans of nearly six feet...

And most of the bad rumors about them are untrue. Although they do get rabies, it isn't the aggressive form, and there are few verifiable cases of bat-human rabies transmission. And they don't fly into your hair, either- with sonar like that, they stay well clear of big and scary things like humans. If you find a colony roosting in your attic or inside your wall-space, don't worry- you're far more likely to hurt them than they are to hurt you. Sure, many bats might be charitably referred to as "intriguingly grotesque", but many of the "flying fox" species are heart-meltingly appealing. I think they're all mighty fine-looking, but I'm prejudiced.

The tragic thing is that these gentle and vital creatures are in serious trouble. Bats reproduce slowly, and their habitats and environment are subject to terrible damage from humanity. More than half of the American species are in decline, and bats are in trouble worlwide.

I strongly encourage you to support your neighborhood bat! Put up a bat-box, help conserve a cave, and (most importantly) consider joining Bat Conservation International...

And the next time you see a bat, whether it's flying above or roosting in your attic, treat it like an ally- because it is.

I have several bat-themed tattoos. Click here to hear about one of them.

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Copyright 2007 Hugh Eckert except where otherwise noted.