Evening star., 1948-10-08
This and That
BIZ Charles E. TraceDel

'BELLEVUE, WASH.
Dear Sir:
II would like to relate a little incident and
then ask you few questions.
TT was a brilliant moonlight night and
was sleeping peacefully. but was awakened by
noise. I was a little scared. I closed my
window, and then in few minutes I saw the
f1uttering of something like shadow about the
room
Then heard the soft whir of wings. It
seemed to come very near my face. BY now
you have guesSed-a bat.
80 with a fashlight We caught three, and
put them carefully out the window.
Where do bats stay during the day time?
where do they 60 to sleep for the winter?
"And what good are they?
Anyway, my window Is screened, and am
safe. Please tell us all about bats
Sincerely, J. M. c."
wonderful creature is the bat, but 1t Is
useless, usually to try and tell the ladies that.
They believe bat is minion out Of hell,
and they want nothing to do with 1t.
Actually, the bat is a mammal, with powers
OF flight rivaling those Of birds.
The fore limbs are modified for flight. Arm
and finger bones are elongated, and across
this framework is the flying membrane This
is a thin fold of skin which reaches to the
sides; and then from the fingers to the hind
legs there Is q cartilaginous process which ex-
tends from ankle to ankle.
There are other structures which help bats
fly; and they have specialized ears, along with
special sorts Of noses and lips. Altogether,
very unusual things.
When bat sleeps, it hangs head down by the
claws Of its hind feet.
The creatures like night time best, and this
Is the reason so many people know so little
about them, and hence tend to fear and even
hate them.
lot, lok s,.k~
especially in an age when fight seems to have
come into its own.
There are two kinds Of bats, the fruit eaters,
found only in the Old World, and the insect
eaters, living all over the world
The common brown bat Is q relatively weak
and harmless thing.
think 1t . monster Of horrid mien, especially
when 1t gets into the house.
Well, 1t must be admitted that bat can
give one quite a start!
Usually it means a fracas with q broom &C.
companied by much shouting, noise and con-
fusion.
In most cases, the bat is stunned. and then
taken to the outdoors 1t Is best to release it
unharmed, since 1t is a good catcher of inimical
insects.
The old expression, to be "as blind as bat, u
Is rather on the silly side since bats can see
and fy-very well in the daytime
In winter many species live in caves but also
take readily to barns, or even attics, where they
live In semi-dormant state.
The bats of Mammoth cave can be knocked
to the floor, some of them flying up again. but
others remaining motionless.
There is some reason to believe that our COM
mon bats migrate, at least in limited sense
There is belief that bats possess a sort OF
radar equipment that enables them to know
when they are approaching an object, thus
permitting them to fly up before touching it
Any one who has watched bats in the yard at
twilight or has been awakened by one in the
room, will feel that this is true. The senstivity
Is in connection with the edges of the wings
The common brown bat is about four and q
half inches long, with a wing spread Of II
inches.
One French scientist kept pet bat for q
long time, and came to regard it with a pecu-
liar affection, even wrote book in its praise
Bats comprise an order all their own. They
are not birds, and there is no animal like them
in the least. The flying squirrel Is rodent
with enough flying equipment to permit him to
use himself as plane. Actually, he does not
fly. But the bat can really fly; the creature
seems erratic, in fight, but that is because in
sects make him 80. Every sudden turn means
he has captured something to eat