Evening star., 1901-02-20
BATS THAT GET TIPsY.
Eject on the Fruit-EatinG Variety o
the Milk of the COcOanut.

Eject on the Fruit-Eating Variety OF
the Milk of the COcOanut.
From the New York Sun
Bats sleep hanging head downward. In
warm countries they sleep in trees, cius-
tered thickly together. Bats of temperate
latitudes harbor themselves in caves or in
dark hooks and crannies of every sort, fly
ing abroad at dusk. Save In the breeding
season the sexes flock separa tely-males in
one tree, or in the cave, females in another.
But when rearing young the bat is excep-
tional among mammals, in that the male
suckles and carries the young in his pouch,
like the female, although he does it only In
event of twins, which the mother batwould
be unable to protect and care for.
The fruit-eating bat of the tropics. known
as the flying fox, Is among the swiftest OF
winged creatures Flocks have been known
to cover forty miles without stopping in
order to reach a favorite tree. and after
rioting there all night fly back before dawn
to a safely dark roost. Where wild figs
and almonds abound they often break
down the trees by clustering thickly upon
the laden boughs More than that they
carry away with them such quantities of
fruit that it is often possible to trace their
course by the husks and sucked skins
dropped on the way.
When cocoanut grove Is plundered
many of the bats do not fly away. They
gnaw through the hulls to suck the milk OF
the young cocoanuts which ferments sc
quickly that 1t makes them drunk. Hun
dreds have been found lying blind and
stupid a the foot of cocoanut trees. A
drunken bat has this in common with a
drunken human being-he falls easiy-so
easily that he is not bruised. even from the
height Of cocoa palm, which Is seldom
less than 100 feet. Take him how you will
the fruit-eating bat Is not a desirable
neighbor. Individually he smells of musk
nv No
becomes almost uncomfortable.
In temperate countries bats hibernate
sleeping away the cold weather. packed
snug in the narrowest available GRANNY. II
routed out and brought to light they re-
vive squeak, then fall over as though dead
They have the trick Of playing possum to
escape captivity and resort to it even In
summer.
The common night-fying bat is both an
insect destroyer and an insect breeder. He
feeds upon flies, gnats, mosquitoes and
small moths. He breeds the bedbug and In
such quantities that his abiding place be-
comes quickly nest of them. In midsum-
mer the red pests often cling to the flying
bats and are thus introduced into the most
carefully kept houses, if unscreened win
dows are left Open
er, but sometimes lives in trees and, like his
congeners, climbs about them backward
and head downward. He feeds indifferently
on fruit or insects, hibernates only slightly
gether the most alert of his tribe.
For long 1t was held that the vampire bat
was purely a creature of Imagination,
though travellers reported vague terrors
! regarding it from South American wilds.
There 1t was eventually found. In reality
1t is bat with wings fifteen to twenty
inches In spread and particularly beak-
like mouth full of sharp teeth. 1t sucks
the blood of grazing beasts-horses cattle,
and so on, which feed at night to escape in
sects. 1t also flies into stables which are
more or less open, and, If undisturbed, will
draw a quart Of blood at a time. The
wounds 1t makes are not dangerous, but
the animals, Of course, grow weak from
loss Of blood.
Tradition said the vampires luled their
victims to sleep by tanning them with their
wings. Fact and tradition have this much
of agreement-the vampire bat does wave
It's wings as 1t sucks the blood Of it's victim,
but 1t Is evidently the butterfly waves
its wings to keep Its balance, not to charm
It's victim asleep.
Inevitably the bat is a center of supersti-
ton. The Germans call 1t fledermaus
flying mouse. Its English folk name is fit
ter mouse, or were mouse. The Jews held
1t most unclean Of all beasts. In China con-
trarwise it Is auspicious, especially If i,
flies over the beginning of a journey, or
into the apartment that holds wedding