[AGL] Re: Bats in the belfry

[Karen Willis]

Well, Wayne, whoever told you that was batty.  Here is some information
about bats from the BasicallyBats.org website.  Bats are extremely
beneficial to humans and should not be persecuted or maligned.  Yes, you can
get all excited about one news story.  There was a cat in East Austin that
bit someone about a year ago.  They caught the cat and it tested positive
for rabies.  Is that a reason to be afraid of all cats?

http://www.basicallybats.org/aboutBats.html

Bats are one of the most misunderstood and persecuted native
wild animals. They are also the animals most immediately beneficial
to humans.

In the United States there are 44 species of bats. Unlike the
bats you've seen in horror movies, native bats are tiny. They
range in weight from 3 grams to 35 grams. Thirty-five grams is
equal to 1 1/4 ounces.  Some species, like the red bat (Lasiurus
borealis) and the hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus), prefer
to live alone in trees.  Other species, like the big brown bat
(Eptesicus fuscus), the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus),
and the Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida barziliensis),
live in groups called colonies.  Colonial bats are more likely
to inhabit a bat house.

Bats are very shy creatures.  Like most wild animals, they avoid
contact with humans and go about the business of eating, reproducing,
and avoiding predators.  Bats are nocturnal, resting during the
day and hunting insects at night.

Nearly all bats that live in the United States feed on insects.
 They eat night-flying insects that destroy our crops, and those
that make our lives miserable by biting us.  One bat can eat up
to 600 mosquito- and gnat-sized insects in one hour.  Bats are
a natural alternative to toxic chemicals which endanger our personal
and environmental well-being.

Bats are the only true flying mammals.  They give birth from mid-May
through July, and they nurse their pups in the same way other
mammals do.

Bats either migrate or hibernate during the winter.  Although
bats are "warm-blooded", they have the ability to lower
their body temperatures to the temperature of their surroundings:
 this is called torpor.  In the winter, bats go into a deep, extended
torpor called hibernation.  It is very important not to disturb
hibernating bats because they can lose valuable energy reserves
and die.

Myths about bats

Bats are blind.

Wrong!  All bats can see.   Bats also have a second sight
mechanism called echolocation.  It is a very sophisticated sonar
system inaudible to the human ear.  The bat emits signals that
go in waves. When the sound-waves strike an object, they return
to the bat's ear as echoes.

Bats suck our blood.

Wrong!  There are only three species of bats that feed on blood.
 Vampire bats live in Mexico and Central and South America.  There
are no vampire bats in the United States.  Vampire bats weigh
approximately 1¼ ounces.  They lap, not suck, small amounts
of blood from tiny wounds they make in wild and farm animals.
 They rarely attempt to feed on humans because human blood is
not palatable to them.

Bats get entangled in our hair.

Wrong!  Bats do not get entangled in human hair.  A bat's echolocation
is so fine-tuned it can detect the difference between a strand
of hair and a gnat!  They may, however, fly close to a person
when in pursuit of an insect, particularly near water.

Bats carry rabies.

Wrong!  Like all mammals, bats can contract rabies, but they are
not asymptomatic carriers of the virus.  When a bat gets rabies,
it usually dies.

The frequency of rabies in bats is very low.  Scientific studies
have shown that less than one-half of one percent of bats contract
rabies.  Infected bats rarely become aggressive;  usually, they
gradually weaken and die.  In some states, there are more rabies-infected
cows than bats!

Nevertheless, rabies is a serious disease, and left untreated,
it is always fatal.  Bat rabies is also avoidable.  Just do not
pick up a bat!  All wild animals will bite to protect themselves.
 If you find a live bat on the ground, it is probably sick or
injured.  The fact that the bat is grounded does not mean it has
rabies, but you should assume it does for your own protection.
 If you feel you must pick it up, wear leather gloves.  Even a
bat that appears dead may merely be in torpor and may bite in
self-defense when touched.

  The information that I got from the Texas Department of Health was that
90% of Mexican Free-tail bats had rabies.  I never said 90% of all bats.
The numbers may have changed since then, but the MFT is still the best
candidate.  The number of people who have died in the last ten or so years
is quite small.
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