Mysterious cave dwellers, silent night stalkers, bloodsucking demons . . . bats have been getting a bad rep for centuries. But in reality, they may be a gardener’s best friend.

It was like a scene straight out of “Night of the Living Dead.” Trapped in their home, the terrified couple spent the night frantically blocking up every possible opening. Hysterical and desperate for help, they finally reached Merlin Tuttle at the crack of dawn to report their horrifying ordeal. The horde of demonic bats that had assaulted their once peaceful home was still lurking menacingly on the front lawn.

With a few judicious questions, world-renowned bat expert Tuttle quickly determined that the devilish invaders were actually a harmless flock of migrating monarch butterflies who’d alighted in the couple’s yard for a quick overnight rest on their long journey. The mere idea of bats had sent them into a frenzy. Silent, mysterious creatures of the night, bats are known to lurk in musty caves, swarming out under cover of darkness to attack humans, spread disease, and suck the blood of helpless victims.

That’s the myth. But the reality is much different. The bat’s ancestors filled the skies some 50 million years ago when they swarmed out for an evening’s flight, Their descendants haven’t changed much since prehistoric times. Almost 1,000 species of bats live in every kind of environment except the extreme desert and polar regions today, but thanks to human development, they no longer fill the night skies.

Species vary from the tiny bumblebee bat of Thailand, lighter than a penny, to Old World flying foxes with wingspans up to 6 feet and lovely little dog-like faces. Some have beautiful long angora-like fur or coats of bright red, yellow, jet black, and white. The butterfly bat even sports a brightly patterned decorative coat. Ears come in an astonishing variety of sizes and shapes, and facial features range from the appealing flying fox to quite bizarre leaf-nosed and ghost-faced bats whose names speak for themselves.

Though bats can navigate in total darkness by echolocation – their sophisticated radar system – they also have keen vision. Contrary to myth, they never fly blindly into people’s hair.

Only three species (all in Latin America) are bloodsuckers. But the infamous vampire bat actually has a disappointingly bourgeois life-style. They are known to engage in “reciprocal altruistic” sharing of food and adopt orphan bats, and the monogamous couples share hunting and childrearing duties. Most speckes, however, are neither bloodsucking nor carnivorous. About 70 varieties eat insects and some feed only on fruit and nectar.

Bats also rarely spread diseases. Rabies is actually uncommon among bats, and unlike most infected mammals, rabid bats aren’t aggressive. Healthy bats normally never attack humans unless they feel threatened.

Though we may find them “creepy,” bats are very beneficial to humans and the ecosystem. A single bat can eat up to 600 of pesky and sometimes disease-carrying mosquitoes an hour. A number of species also help pollinate and disperse seeds of valuable tropical crops, and they are vital to the reforestation of tropical rainforests.

Tags: bats, bloodsucking demons

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 29th, 2010 at 10:13 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.