Subscribe
Community
Bats and snacks
Kids, parents learn about creatures at park pizza program
Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by BOB RENNEISEN
Left, Tania Gale, a naturalist at Battle Creek Cypress Swamp, displays various specimens of bats at Friday's "Pizza and Wings" program at the park.Right, Avery Degennaro, 3, of Prince Frederick, and his father, Mike, look over bat specimens displayed by Gale at Battle Creek Cypress Swamp.
|
E-Mail This Article
Looking for a glib, erudite comment to bring out the next time you're socializing with your favorite group?
Well, we've all heard the expression, "Blind as a bat," but most of us aren't aware that bats see at least as well as we humans do in the daylight, and much better at night.
Wait — there's more. Did you know that the world's largest bat has a wingspan of nearly 6 feet, and that the smallest weighs only about as much as a paper clip? That's a real conversation starter for sure.
OK, bats usually aren't on most top-10 lists of favorite things, but last Friday night a small, enthusiastic group of kids and parents at the Battle Creek Cypress Swamp in Port Republic was fascinated to learn all about those furry creatures that fly like birds (which they aren't) and look like rodents (which they also aren't). They aren't birds or rodents; they're — well — bats.
According to park naturalist Tania Gale, there are more than 1,000 species of bats in the world, of which 44 are native to North America. A Lusby resident who is in her 10th year at the Battle Creek Cypress Swamp, Gale told the audience that bats are found on every continent of the world except Antarctica.
"I have a fascination with misunderstood animals," she explained, "things that come out at night like bats and snakes and creepy-crawlies. I like them simply because they aren't often seen and aren't understood [by many people]."
Gale began her presentation by reviewing certain bat facts and fiction. For example, bats are mammals, not birds. "Do bats have feathers like birds?" she asked the audience.
Matthew Womer, 6, of Lusby, was quick with his answer. "No. Bats have fur," he said, displaying his own large plush-toy bat — perhaps it could be called a "Teddy Bat."
Bats can generally be categorized into two groups, Gale said: fruit (eating) bats and insect (eating) bats. The bigger bats normally are fruit bats, and the largest of these, known as flying foxes, have a 6-foot wingspan and weigh about 2 pounds. The smallest, the bumble bee bat found in Thailand, weigh about as much as a paper clip, she said.
Fruit bats in all locations are an essential element in the ecological fabric because, like bees, they help to pollinate many fruits, Gale continued, and, through their droppings, they help to spread and repopulate the various fruits they eat. Similarly, the insect bats feed on, and thereby control the population of, insects that can be harmful to agriculture, she added.
While explaining the virtues of bats to the adults and children in the audience, Gale showed around various bat specimens, but she used the occasion to caution that bats also can carry diseases, including rabies.
"This is a reason why if you should ever see a bat lying on the ground, you should definitely not try to pick it up with your hands," she emphasized. "I don't care how cute and fuzzy it looks, or whatever, it could very well be sick."
About 99 percent of rabies in humans come from dogs, Gale said, because of the close relationship of dogs and humans. Bats are nocturnal and if one is found and in a position to be approached or touched, it is likely dead, injured or sick and, therefore, a potential danger. Rabies from a bat bite can be especially dangerous because bat bites are small and often undetected, she said. For this reason, the rabies has a longer time to develop before treatment can begin.
So, like most creatures populating our planet, bats have their good traits and their not-so-good traits, just like we do. Nevertheless, the audience was captivated and thoroughly entertained by Gale's presentation. Titled "Pizza and Wings," it was one part of the park's monthly "Pizza and a Program" series.
Maggie Bennett, 9, and her father Robert Bennett of Chesapeake Beach have been frequent participants in these and other programs offered at Battle Creek and other county parks. During Friday's program, Maggie, a student at Beach Elementary School, had an opportunity to try on a realistic bat suit to demonstrate the mammal's physical anatomy. Obviously fascinated with misunderstood animals, she said her favorites are "bats and snakes. I liked touching the bats and putting on the bat suit. I'm going to be a bat for Halloween," she said with a determined expression.
"Last year, she was a jellyfish," her father related with a grin.
