Passage III

A Few Words about Bats

The movie Dracula, featuring it’s batlike title character who feeds on human blood, is just one of many sources of people’s ideas about bats that are flawed. The facts about bats are more interesting than the falsehoods. Just take three of the most common misconceptions about bats; that they are dangerous to humans, that they are rodents, and that they cannot see.

In reality, only three of the more than 850 known species of bats feed primarily on blood, and even these do not draw nourishment from human blood; they bite cattle and horses in their sleep. Most bats eat insects; others feed on fruit, nectar, pollen, small vertebrates, and fish.

Some people believe bats are rodents; others think bats are kind of bird. Although winged, bats are not related to birds, because even if a bat’s small, furry body may appear mouselike, bats are not rodents either. Rather, bats are a unique order of mammals called Chiroptera, the only mammals that truly flies.

While some species of bats are blind, most are not. However, bats that hunt at night use sound more than sight to orient themselves in the dark. These bats sending out high-frequency sounds and using the echoes that bounce back from objects to locate their prey and to navigate.

In addition to being fascinating creatures, bats are useful to humans, especially farmers. (41) They consume beetles and moths that attack crops, reducing our reliance on chemical insecticides; in addition, bat droppings are useful for fertilizing fields and gardens.

There is one sad piece of news about bats: their habitats are being destroyed by humans. For example, bat caves are being disturbed or ruined as highways and housing developments are built. (42) As a consequence, several bat species face extinction. We should protect bats because, though they might seem threatening, they are an important and beneficial part of life.