The Flitting Of The Bats
8:25 PM in the Lower Delta. The merciful end to a day marked by oppressive heat and high humidity.
As night approaches, I gaze upward to the sky and notice a few birds, the last of the happy hour crowd, heading back to their nests. A dragonfly circles, then quickly zips toward an oak tree and disappears.
Then suddenly, with a quick, erratic motion, something else appears against the darkened sky. Then there’s two. As quickly as they appear, they disappear and return yet again. They move like Japanese Zero fighters, crossing one another in a show of speed and agility and with a wing cadence that’s much different from anything I’ve seen in class Aves.
It’s thrilling when one dips low, perhaps only twenty feet or so above my head, and I can get a closer look at this nocturnal marvel of the evening sky.
We’ve been blessed with an abundance of bats in the Lower Delta this summer, usually Nyctieceius humeralis or “Evening bat” as they’re commonly called. They’re here every year, but seem particularly more abundant this season, and this is good news.
Bats are essential to nature’s balance. More bats means fewer insects which can be a problem in the hot, muggy Southern summer. But for some reason, bats, like spiders and snakes, are frequently referred to as “pests”, misunderstood, vilified, associated with evil and all sorts of superstitious mumbo jumbo that started way before Bram Stoker.
Vampires? Yes, but they exist only in Washington, D.C. Only three of the over one thousand species of bats feed on blood or invertebrates. Those that aren’t insectivorous eat fruit, nectar or pollen.
A realistic concern about bats are pathogens, but if you don’t try to handle bats, the chances are virtually nil you’ll become infected. Less than 0.5% of bats carry rabies. Your yard could be swarming with bats and the chances still are exponentially higher you’ll be killed in a car accident.
Or, maybe you’ll die of ignorance from watching too much tee-vee.
Stay out of cars. In fact, go ahead and shoot the tee-vee, throw it at your car and welcome the bats.
That’s our creed at Casa Burns.
Nyctieceius humeralis young are born in June and early July, so there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing some of the little pups flying about real soon. At least we hope.
They roost in trees and buildings, but no one seems to know where they go in the winter. Good chance it’s not a shopping mall or fast food outlet, which is where you’ll find most humans.
Bats are the only mammal in the world capable sustained flight. The bats of course do it naturally, using sonar to maneuver and hunt in the dark. Humans do it unnaturally, although we’ll doing much less of it once Peak Oil settles in nicely around the planet.
Here’s to you, bats. May the moon light your way and may that path always be above my house.