THE FLYING DOGS
Quick, think of five ways to describe a bat. Yuck! Scary, bloodsuckers, ugly and rabies? Unfortunately, I'm 99.99 percent sure that you have considered at least one of the above. No thanks to horror movies. These (actually) lovable creatures are forever etched in the niche of villains' world. Okay, let's set things straight for these maligned and misunderstood flying beings. They are tame and there is no recorded incident of bats flying amuck and biting just about everybody. Vampire bats belong to a single species (there are almost a hundred species of bats) and said species is confined to one South American country. And vampire bats don't bite the necks of humans. They sneak at the leg section of cattle, make a small nip on the leg, and slowly lick out the blood. Just imagine a vampire bat as a giant mosquito.
Most bats eat insects and fruits and they pollinate flowers. In fact, bats pollinate the highly coveted durian tree flowers. Try to imagine Mindanao without durian! It’s catastrophic! On the other hand, an insect-eating bat can gobble up to 200 mosquitoes in one night. How's that for malaria control? And they fly up to 25 kilometers from their nests, eating insects and pollinating tree flowers.
Bats are also highly social and they exhibit warm-blooded caring towards their young. I have seen a mama bat wrapping her youngsters with her wings. All of their red eyes looked intently at me while I got closer to them to have a good look. Of course, they looked ugly. But I bet they watched me with terror as I got near them.
My encounters with bats were quite numerous but I never felt icky or afraid of them. It was more of wonderment and a feeling of connecting with nature. There were a few times when I felt shame as we humans intruded into their homes and wake them up in the middle of the day.
Just a few tips when you would enter a cave and might disturb some bats. Wear a helmet or any head cover. Once, a thousand bats frantically flew in circles above our heads and we felt shower-like drops. I'll never tell you what those droppings were. No sir! Never!
Don't wear shorts. Remembers, bats clings on to something to rest. We were entering a claustrophobic chamber in Marinduque with our chins barely touching the ground as we crawled deeper into the cave, when the overwhelming, whooping sound of hundreds of flapping skin-wings filled the small passage. We felt the bats barely touching our faces as they tried to find their way out or away from us. The last guy who was still standing at the other end of the chamber wore shorts. When the frenzy was over, about ten bats were clinging on to the edge of his shorts!
Most bats eat insects and fruits and they pollinate flowers. In fact, bats pollinate the highly coveted durian tree flowers. Try to imagine Mindanao without durian! It’s catastrophic! On the other hand, an insect-eating bat can gobble up to 200 mosquitoes in one night. How's that for malaria control? And they fly up to 25 kilometers from their nests, eating insects and pollinating tree flowers.
Bats are also highly social and they exhibit warm-blooded caring towards their young. I have seen a mama bat wrapping her youngsters with her wings. All of their red eyes looked intently at me while I got closer to them to have a good look. Of course, they looked ugly. But I bet they watched me with terror as I got near them.
My encounters with bats were quite numerous but I never felt icky or afraid of them. It was more of wonderment and a feeling of connecting with nature. There were a few times when I felt shame as we humans intruded into their homes and wake them up in the middle of the day.
Just a few tips when you would enter a cave and might disturb some bats. Wear a helmet or any head cover. Once, a thousand bats frantically flew in circles above our heads and we felt shower-like drops. I'll never tell you what those droppings were. No sir! Never!
Don't wear shorts. Remembers, bats clings on to something to rest. We were entering a claustrophobic chamber in Marinduque with our chins barely touching the ground as we crawled deeper into the cave, when the overwhelming, whooping sound of hundreds of flapping skin-wings filled the small passage. We felt the bats barely touching our faces as they tried to find their way out or away from us. The last guy who was still standing at the other end of the chamber wore shorts. When the frenzy was over, about ten bats were clinging on to the edge of his shorts!
posted by Caloy at
12:10 AM
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