Monday, October 20, 2008

Bats and Insects

From Creation Moments

For many people bats bring to mind words like "creepy," "fangs," "rabies," and even "ugly." However, over 450 years ago Martin Luther marveled at the delicate beauty of the bat. He pronounced the creature an excellent witness to the skill and wisdom of the Creator.

God must also like bats. Almost one-fourth of all mammals He created are bats! The flying fox bat has a wingspan of nearly six feet. Bumblebee bats, native to Thailand, are the smallest mammals known, weighing less than a penny. There are brilliantly patterned tropical bats called butterfly bats. And hundreds of species of tropical plants depend on bats as pollinators.

Popular legend considers bats a serious part of the rabies problem. The truth is that raccoons, skunks, foxes, and even dogs and cats are more likely to have rabies. In fact, one study shows that in Pennsylvania you are more likely to find a rabid cow than a rabid bat.

In reality bats are delicate, helpful and intelligent creatures. A typical North American bat will eat about 600 mosquitoes an hour. Large colonies will consume between 250,000 and 500,000 pounds of insects per night! Bats can be trained, demonstrating their intelligence.

And finally, an important warning. If you find sleeping bats, don't disturb them. Even one such disturbance during sleep can be fatal, since stored nutrition may be consumed by the disturbance before the next feeding cycle.

So next time you see a bat, don't recoil in fear. Rather, say a prayer of thanksgiving to the Creator who made both of you.

References: Givens, K.T. 1990. Going batty. Modern Maturity, Oct.-Nov.p. 60.

Source: Creation Moments

2 comments:

OmaKat55 said...

Personally, I like bats. I have a relatively large backyard and while it's not landscaped or anything, summertime still sees its share of mosquitos and other obnoxious flying insects. I would love to put up bat houses, but don't have any idea how to attract them, while keeping them safe from area critters, like cats.

sharingsunshine said...

They are great with mosquitoes! We have them naturally here because we have a lot of trees and the Little Brown Bat (which is what's in our area) likes to roost in trees.

We've had a bat house up since we moved here. My sweet husband made it. No residents to date and it's almost 8 years.

This post may be helpful to you if you're wanting to attract bats:

http://www.thenatureinus.com/2006/12/about-bats-and-bathouses.html

If you enjoy bats, you might enjoy more interesting information on them as moms:

http://www.thenatureinus.com/2007/11/hearing-god.html

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