Summary

The article "Walking with Bats" dispels myths about bats, highlights their ecological importance, and addresses the decline in their population.

Abstract

The article recounts a night walk in a French village where bats, rather than owls, became the unexpected highlight. Despite common misconceptions and fear, such as the belief that bats get tangled in hair, these mammals are portrayed as fascinating and beneficial to the ecosystem. The author emphasizes that bats are the only flying mammals, capable of extraordinary agility and speed. They play a crucial role in controlling insect populations and pollinating plants, which is vital for many crops including coffee and chocolate. The article also touches on the cultural history of bats, their association with death and the supernatural, and the reality that only one species out of 1400 feeds on blood. The decline in bat populations is presented as an alarming indicator of environmental stress, attributed to factors like pesticide use and habitat loss. The author concludes by advocating for the appreciation and conservation of bats, suggesting that the benefits they provide far outweigh the unfounded fears surrounding them.

Opinions

The author views bats as misunderstood creatures that are wrongly feared and maligned.
The article suggests that the fear of bats getting caught in hair is an unfounded myth, possibly perpetuated to deter young women from going out at night.
The author challenges the cultural associations of bats with death and the devil, noting that these are likely due to their nocturnal and black appearance.
The author criticizes the influence of vampire stories and myths on the public perception of bats, emphasizing that only one species feeds on blood and it does not target humans.
The author expresses concern over the decline in bat populations, seeing it as an early warning sign for broader ecological issues.
The author values bats for their insect control and pollination services, considering them essential for the sustainability of over 500 plant species.
The author humorously contrasts the minor inconvenience of potential bat bites with the significant impact of losing bat-pollinated crops like coffee and chocolate.
The author encourages readers to look beyond myths and appreciate bats, even suggesting practical solutions like wearing a hat to alleviate unfounded fears.
The author invites environmentally conscious readers to engage further by reading related articles and contributing to the discourse on wildlife conservation.

Walking with Bats

Beneficial creatures with a cruel reputation

In the small French village where I am living, there is a professional nature guide. Always keen to know more about the natural world around me, I recently joined him and a handful of other people for a night walk. We have six species of owl living either in or around the village or hunting up and down the gorge where we are situated.

Although the owls were interesting, it was the local bats that provided most of the entertainment that night. Many of the sounds that bats produce are not audible to the human, ear. Our guide had a nifty little technical box that lowered the decibels of their calls so that we could hear them.

It was fascinating to be able to listen to them and they found the altered frequency intriguing as well because they were soon circling above our heads. That is when things got really interesting.

Among our party were two teenage girls and they were absolutely terrified that these tiny creatures were going to get caught in their hair.

Bats are the only flying mammals and are the fastest moving mammals on earth. They can make the average cheetah look positively sluggish. They are able to manoeuvre easily through the thickest of forests or the tightest of crevices in a cave. The idea that they were suddenly going to trap themselves in the carefully coiffed hair of these young ladies was quite ridiculous. The guide explained this to them but this was clearly one of those occasions where logic didn’t really apply and so we had to abandon the use of the bat box.

There are plenty of myths surrounding bats and the one that they get caught in ladies’ hair is thought to have been widely promoted in Europe by mothers trying to deter their daughters from sneaking out after dark. Why they couldn’t just threaten to beat the living daylights out of them like my mother used to do is beyond me.

The Greeks associated bats with the wife of the god Pluto who was lord of the underworld. Both the Biblical book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy list bats as among the unclean creatures that we were forbidden to eat and many cultures associate them with death.

The fact that these innocuous creatures are both black and nocturnal pretty much guaranteed them high status among the list of creatures to be associated with death or the devil. Throw in a few vampire stories and some blood-sucking myths and hey presto — you have a creature that many people love to hate.

Of the 1400 species of bat in the world, there is only one that sucks blood and it only ever does this on livestock and wild mammals. Tough luck for scientific evidence, Count Dracula reigns supreme.

Sadly, bat numbers have declined dramatically over recent years and many naturalists are seeing this as an early indicator of threats to other species.

The massive drop in the number of insects due to pesticide use, loss of habitat and an increase in disease are all taking their toll on bat populations.

Despite their fearful reputation, bats are wonderful creatures that can be highly beneficial to man. A bat can consume 1200 mosquitoes in an hour and, without their pollination abilities, over 500 crops would suffer. The loss of what are called night shift pollinators would see dramatic drops in yields of crops such as coffee, avocados and cacao.

Personally, I would need to think very carefully if it came down to a choice of having my blood sucked by the occasional vampire or giving up coffee and chocolate.

The smallest bat is about the size of a bumblebee, while the largest, the diurnal flying fox, is about the size of, you guessed it, a small dog. (I couldn’t go with the fox simile. It was just too obvious). Pallid bats are even known to eat scorpions and have developed an immunity to their stings.

I hope that this brief article helps to raise awareness of these highly maligned creatures. If you are still worried about them becoming trapped in your flowing hair, just wear a hat, (or stay at home and get bitten by mosquitoes and stung by scorpions).

Thank you for reading.

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