From: jtrimble@sdf.lonestar.org (John Trimble)
Subject: Re: Bats - way cool
Organization: Best lil' ol' Pubnix in Texas
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1992 20:50:44 GMT

Here's an article I wrote for several weekly newspapers back when 
Batman (the first movie) was released. It has some information 
about bats that you might like. There was a terrific article about 
the founder of BCI in the New Yorker in about '88, that anyone 
with serious interests in bats would want to look up at the 
library. 
jtrimble@sdf.lonestar.org

     Billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne modeled his vigilante alter 
ego on an image that strikes terror into the hearts of cowardly 
criminals and honest folk alike.  But according to experts at Bat 
Conservation International, the fears the Batman exploits are 
deeply misguided. Bats are not only the daring detective's best 
friends, they are among humankind's best friends.      

     According to bat expert Merlin Tuttle, BCI's founder and 
guiding force, human fear of bats continues to lead to acts far 
more criminal than even those committed by arch villains like the 
the Penguin, Catwoman, and Riddler.  Bats are being killed off by 
the millions without regard for the fact that they are keystone 
species in the life of tropical rainforests and solely responsible 
for the continued existence of untold numbers of  plant species. 
The furry flying mammals are also nature's most vigilant 
eliminators of night flying insects, such as mosquitoes which 
transmit dangerous human diseases like malaria.  Tuttle doesn't 
begrudge Batman's exploitation of batphobia, though, saying the 
new movie has generated a number of calls to BCI headquarters in 
Austin, Texas.          

     Taking time for a telephone interview away from taping a bat 
segment for the popular PBS series, "Marty Stouffer's Wild 
America"  Tuttle reels off at breakneck speed bat-facts that 
contradict common knowledge, then slows to discuss the mission of 
the group he founded in 1982.  Bat Conservation International  
supports bat research and bat conservation efforts, and most 
importantly of all,  promotes bat education.  The group has grown 
to over 9,000 members in over fifty countries, but according to 
Tuttle, the work has just begun.     

     A card or letter to  Bat Conservation International will get 
you membership information, some beginner's bat facts, and a 
catalogue of bat items, sale of which provides important bat 
revenues. Catalogue offerings include bat jewelry ($6.95 and up), 
bat-T-shirts ($10.95), books (including bat poetry), a kite, and a 
bat mobile (the kind that hangs in harmonic balance: $26.95). Bat-
ominiums, at 29.95 are bat houses which, according to Tuttle, make 
great conversation starters even though they may take three or 
more years to attract bats to roost. A mini bat detector ($210.00) 
lets you electronically listen in on  ultrasonic bat echolocation 
signals.  Sorry, no Robins; have you tried the Audubon Society?                


Bat Conservation International
P.O. Box 162603
Austin, TX  78716
Phone: (512)327-9721


Bat Facts:

*Bat beliefs...Scientists once mistakenly believed that bats 
were capable of carrying rabies without suffering symptoms. 
Experts  under the influence of unsound research (like the Dallas 
animal control expert who in 1974 declared, "The only safe bat is 
a baseball bat") have done untold damage to bats' reputations. 
Actually, fewer than one half of one percent of bats contract 
rabies, a lower percentage than holds true for cats or dogs. Bats 
differ from other rabies-stricken mammals only in that they rarely 
exhibit aggressiveness as a symptom.

     On the other hand, in much of the far east, bats are omens of 
good. An oriental talisman called /wu fu/ contains five stylized 
bats symbolizing the five elements of good fortune.
 
*Bat-pix...You may think your driver's license picture looks bad, 
but it would be worse if you were a bat. The mug shots you've 
probably seen are the result of stretching their wings out 
painfully and scaring  the bejesus out of these timid little 
critters to make them open their eyes with results resembling what 
might happen if the only photos of "cute cuddly kittens" were 
taken when they were drenched with water and tossed in the air. 
Bat-ographer Merlin Tuttle has countered by taking bat pix in 
natural and near-natural settings.       

*Bat ecology...Many species of  tropical rain forest trees depend 
exclusively on fruit and nectar-eating bats for pollination and 
seed dispersal. If you enjoy bananas, figs, dates, avocados, 
mangoes, peaches, cloves,  or tequila, thank a bat for making them 
possible. Bats occupy key positions in these and other products' 
natural ecological chains.

* Bat sex.  Male and female vampire bats  share equally in rearing 
young, and they're monogamous. Indications are that vampire bats, 
which live only in Latin America, mate for life.  Other bats 
differ in their mating habits across a range that resembles 
humans' with regard to promiscuity and unwed motherhood. Mothers 
almost never give birth to more than one young one per year, and 
that's one reason for the steep decline of bat populations 
worldwide.


*Bat types...  
      Microbats are the eight hundred or so insect-eating species 
of bats that echolocate (locate things by hollering and hearing 
the echoes). Their strange shaped noses and large facial flaps are 
Mother Nature's sonarlike navigational tools. Even in Tuttle's 
photos, these bats look funky. How would your face look if it 
equally matched your lifestyle, say with ears capable of 
microwaving TV dinners and a nose that could tune in MTV?

     Megabats are the second of two main group of bats. 
These large fruit-eating bats called flying foxes don't 
echolocate. They have big eyes that see /very/ well and brain 
pathways with the distinctive signatures of primates. Evidence 
that they're closely related to humans (gasp!) is still regarded 
as controversial.  

*Bat trivia...Bats emerging from caves in the evenings  spiral 
counter clockwise. 

Bats' knees bend backwards. This adaptation comes in handy for 
knocking around on cave walls and somersaulting from hanging-
upside-down into proper position for neat delivery of guano to 
cave floors where it is frequently gathered for use in fertilizer.  

Bats keep their bodies well groomed. 

Bats are not rodents. 

The tiniest mammal is the Bumblebee bat of Thailand which weighs  
less than a penny.
 
*Bat conservation...The earliest know bat conservation effort took 
place in  San Antonio, Texas where between 1900 and 1920 bats were 
encouraged to move into bat-houses on tall poles.  Residents swore 
the bats held down the population of malaria-carrying mosquitoes, 
though scientific documentation was not then made.  Early in this 
century Texas passed state laws with stiff fines to protect bats, 
but pro-bat laws were rescinded during the phobia-plagued fifties.   

*Bats v. humans...More people die annually from food poisoning 
contracted at church picnics than have died from contact with bats 
throughout history. Ancient Egyptians valued bat parts as 
medicinal. Modern bat studies have spun off information useful to 
research in birth control, vaccines, artificial insemination, low 
temperature surgery, and navigational aids for the blind. Study of 
the anti-coagulant chemicals in vampire bat saliva continues to 
yield helpful information. 

     America's Neighborhood Bats by Merlin D. Tuttle is available 
in most public libraries and from Bat Conservation International.  
The fact and photo filled 104-page resource tool by the founder of 
BCI offers excellent advice on everyday dealings with bats such as 
what to do about bats in your attic, what to do if you see a bat 
lying on the sidewalk, and how to identify and live in informed 
and responsible harmony with bats as you would with birds or any 
other neighborhood creatures.