I Has Gone Bats!

Too funny...

Bats... I have a feeling many of you are squirming just from the mere mention of these winged mammals... Sadly, these poor guys have gotten some bad PR over the years.

Hanging out...

Some people dislike bats because they think they're nothing more than mice or rats with wings. Surprisingly (according to Wikipedia), bats aren't related to rodents, or birds, for that matter. Actually, bats aren't closely related to any other mammal. They seem to be in a class all their own, a very unique species that has been given a bad rep over the years... with the exception of Batman, that is... 

So... lets talk about bats...
Over the centuries, there have been quite a lot of myths about bats... The most obvious of these being their association with witches and warlocks, black magic and things of a Halloween-ish nature. People who practice witchcraft and black magic were said to use bats in their ghoulish potions... Now how could you put something so cute into a pot of boiling ooze...? Obviously these were just myths, though I'm sure there were more than a few people interested in the black arts that gave it a go at some point...
They've also been associated with ghosts, death and disease.. In all honesty, I can understand the association to death and disease as many wild mammals fall prey to rabies, not to mention that they can carry lice and other parasites. But as for the believe that bats are disembodied spirits or representatives of the underworld, it's nothing more than crazy tales made up by superstitious people.
Bats have also been associated with the mythical vampire. I'm not claiming that vampires don't exist... actually it's quite the opposite. Vampires do exist, but only in their own minds, however. There are people in this world that lead a vampiric lifestyle, from being primarily nocturnal to drinking blood on occasion. Though they're not vampires like Bela Lugosi in the Dracula movies, they are, in their own minds, the real deal.
And let us not forget the famed old wive's tale that warns us bats will try to tangle themselves in your hair and suck your blood. Yes, some bats do drink blood from insects and other mammals. But when a bat comes dive-bombing your head, it's more than likely due to their radar detecting an insect somewhere close to your head. Trust me when I say they're not freaky little winged kamikaze pilots. If a bat is taking a dive at your head, it's either an insect is near you or their radar is broken...  

Though not all PR bats have gotten is bad... Chinese lore claims bats are a symbol of happiness and longevity. In other cultures, it is believed to be a symbol of good luck. And let us not forget the popular hero, Bruce Wayne, who dressed as his greatest fear and began fighting crime as Batman.

"It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!!!"

Bats are actually quite interesting creatures, once you read up on them... And if these little pudgy fur-balls at the left don't convince you, think of it this way... Without creatures like bats (also frogs, spiders...) the world would be literally overrun with a wide variety of unpleasant things... like mosquitoes... I'll take a furry bat over a large, itchy welt any day.

I, personally, am fond of bats... When I was growing up, there were a lot of trees surrounding the area that were littered with bats in the summer. They were forever flying around, diving too close to heads for that person's comfort (except where I was concerned, that is).
I also had the advantage of a... strange... family.  
My grandmother was a rather interesting woman... She had a physically debilitating disease and couldn't get around well, but she had spunk... Every summer, a few bats would end up flying down the chimney into the temporarily unused furnace, out the furnace door and into the house. It never failed, the bats would end up flying into the downstairs bathroom while my grandmother was in there. This was probably why she kept a fly swatter in the bathroom... When a bat would fly in the room, she would wield the swatter, smack the little bat with the swatter and knock it into the toilet which she would promptly flush, sending the poor little thing out into the septic tank.
I remember, in her more immobile years, my mother and I having to go to her house to remove yet another poor, unfortunate bat. My mother had armed herself with a tennis racket while I followed her through the house, begging and pleading with her to allow me to catch the "poor little thing" so it could be released outside. The final score was my mom:1 myself and the bat:0...

Bats, currently, are endangered, especially in the US where a fungal infection called White Nose Syndrome, which has been the cause of more than half of the bats in the country. I hope one day the populous will support finding a cure and helping save these poor, misunderstood creatures...