Do You Love Itty Furry Bats?
By Maggiepie
@Maggiepie (7816)
United States
March 22, 2011 9:06pm CST
Well, if you do, I found an article about some cute little fruit bats that were rescued when their cave was flooded. The photos are dangerously cute. Unfortunately, it's from a Swedish site, so unless you speak the language, all you'll understand is the pictures! 
Here's the link: http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article8385023.ab
Still, it's nice to know that yet another humanitarian gesture saved some animals--especially a kind about which some people are totally phobic! Personally, I've never been afraid of them, & I have several bat-loving pals. One of them sometimes visits Austin, Texas just to watch the enormous colony that lives under a bridge in the middle of town. They're stunning to see when they take off in squadrons, one section of the bridge at a time, as the sections fall one at a time into the shadows at sundown.
They start out flying low, right over one's head & often between one & other people & things! Their wings are so thin one can see twilight through them, & they don't seem to flap them to fly so much as fold & unfold them, giving the appearance of "winking" open & shut. It's a charming little movement.
Maggiepie
"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind. ~ Henry James
Here's the link: http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article8385023.ab
Still, it's nice to know that yet another humanitarian gesture saved some animals--especially a kind about which some people are totally phobic! Personally, I've never been afraid of them, & I have several bat-loving pals. One of them sometimes visits Austin, Texas just to watch the enormous colony that lives under a bridge in the middle of town. They're stunning to see when they take off in squadrons, one section of the bridge at a time, as the sections fall one at a time into the shadows at sundown.
They start out flying low, right over one's head & often between one & other people & things! Their wings are so thin one can see twilight through them, & they don't seem to flap them to fly so much as fold & unfold them, giving the appearance of "winking" open & shut. It's a charming little movement.
Maggiepie
"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind. ~ Henry James4 people like this
6 responses
@GardenGerty (160949)
• United States
23 Mar 11
We have a bat house that we need to put up. Obviously I do not mind bats. I know hubby will love this video. He has some real "batty" stories. Like finding one under a poster on a tree on a creek bank and putting it inside his shirt to keep it warm and taking it home.
3 people like this
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
23 Mar 11
They are cute arent they.
I havent seen any bats in a long time they used to fly around our street lights when I was a kid teh other girls always ran thought they was going to get tangles up in thier hair always had my hairshort so no worries
2 people like this
guess not
@Galena (9110)
•
28 Mar 11
although sometimes they don't look where they're going. when people use a harp trap to survey bat populations they'll often set them at key points where bats are going to and from their feeding sites. they don't always echolocate if they know where they're going. which means if an obstruction that isn't usually there is in the way, they might not notice it.
I've been flown into by bats before, but really that's more because people attract midges, and they dive in close to get them. some don't judge it quite right.
@kenzie45230 (3560)
• United States
23 Mar 11
No, I can't say that I like them very much. They took over an apartment complex where my son and I lived - literally. They were already there when we lived there. In the summer, when neighbors sat on their steps and talked in the evenings, we'd see them swooping around. We called the apartment owners, but they were in NY and we were in TX and they really didn't care. About 9 months after my son and I moved, the apartment complex was condemned because the bats had taken over 8 apartment buildings, and at least a dozen were found to be rabid. Bats are not my friends.
2 people like this
@kenzie45230 (3560)
• United States
26 Mar 11
I think mosquitoes is why they were there. Our town was not far from Clute, Texas where they have the Mosquito Festival every year. At about 3 a.m. every night in the summer, a truck would come down the street spraying a chemical everywhere and over the lake near where my sister lived, crop dusters sprayed as well.
I live in Ohio now, and we've had some trouble with them getting into our attics.
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
23 Mar 11
Good morning Maggie, i have never seen a bat except in pictures & on tv & that's good enough for me, lol.
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
24 Mar 11
Good morning Maggie, thanks for the info. I to hate mosquitoes but they really like me. Guess it's because i'm so sweet, lol.
@yoyo1198 (3641)
• United States
23 Mar 11
The article says in essence that after the floods in Australia 130 small homeless bats, barley 4 months old, were found scattered on the ground where they were trying to eat. It is not natural to find them there and this indicates that something is wrong with the environment. They are being fed from a bottle and hanged in clothes ropes to relearn to fly. After four weeks they will hopefully be restored.
I am using IE8 which give me access to a translator.
2 people like this
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
25 Mar 11
Yes. A bat on the ground may be rabid!
Maggiepie
"Deep experience is never peaceful." ~ Henry James
