Like a bat outta hell

One of many major biodiversity losses unfolding in the Anthropocene Extinction

VOX: Bats have a unique superpower. Climate change is turning it into a liability.

USNPS: Benefits of Bats

HINDAWI: Ecological and Economic Importance of Bats (Order Chiroptera)

I have a special relationship with bats, having been bit by one as a young child and then, when we couldn’t recover the bat, having undergone the full rabies series of shots. [I was later bit by a seemingly mad dog and had the series restarted only to find out that it wasn’t rabid per testing.]

Let’s just say I had an adventurous first few years living in a small town (I was also hit by a car running across a street and ran away from home with my best preschool friend — only to be picked up by the cops).

Where I grew up as a kid (Boscobel WI), our town was ringed by sandstone hills replete with caves perfect for bats, so, on a summer night, it was nothing to see them all over the place. Indeed, as a kid, I remember the town paying somebody to go through city and scare off or kill any bats nesting in houses or buildings. They were just everywhere and a fact of life. As Boscobel is plagued by mosquitos in the summer (so godawful I can remember constantly moving while playing outfield in softball at night to avoid their constant swarm bitings), bats are also crucial to keeping that population down.

In short, I grew up in a bat heaven. I suppose we were the real invaders, nature-wise, because the environment was simply built for them.