October 17, 2001
Bat organization spotlights things that go bump in the night
Dale Smart also shows off owl and African bush baby
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
With Halloween lurching toward us in a few weeks, the Organization for Bat Conservation wants to help people make a new friend this year: bats.
Dale Smart, an educational specialist with the organization, visited Borders Books Saturday evening and held his audience of 25 spellbound with tales of bats and other nocturnal creatures, including an owl and an African bush baby.
Talking about bats in positive light requires dispelling many myths and fears about what are actually harmless and helpful creatures, he said.
"Bats pollinate flowers, eat insects and farmers use them for integrated pest management," Smart said. "One bat can eat up to 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour or 6,000 in a night."
With eyes almost as big as the nocturnal animals they were learning about, the audience listened attentively to Smart's presentation.
"I liked learning about nocturnal animals," said Alex Berman, 8, who has seen bats before on a trip to Disney World's Animal Kingdom. "I knew about bats before but not bush babies."
Bats are found on all continents except Antarctica and they are the only mammals that can fly. They range in size from the Bumble Bee bat in Thailand to the Malayan Flying Fox, which is two feet tall and has a wingspan as large as an eagle. Michigan has nine species of bats; the most common in the northern Michigan region is the little brown bat.
Bats have long been linked to vampires and bloodsucking in myths and novels, helping perpetuate their bad reputation. However, the real vampire bats in South and Central America are only four inches tall and do not have fangs. Instead they slightly scrape their victim - usually a chicken - with their front teeth and then gently lick the blood, usually a teaspoon at a time.
Smart noted that even though bats do not deserve their spooky reputation, trick or treaters should keep a special spot in their hearts for them.
"Bats pollinate the plant that chocolate comes from," he said.
After the bats, Smart discussed other nocturnal animals, including deer, coyotes and cats. Smart also brought along a screech owl and a bush baby, a small African primate, for his presentation.
With Riff-raff, the bush baby, perched on his shoulder looking curiously around, Smart explained how nocturnal animals have large eyes like mirrors to enhance night vision plus excellent hearing. All nocturnal animals sleep during the day and feed at night, making their enhanced vision and hearing necessary for survival.
"An owl can see so well it can spot a mouse a football field away," Smart said. "Owls also have special ears that can hear so well they can hear a mouse on the other side of a tree."
The Organization for Bat Conservation was founded ten years ago to help educate about bats, conserve their habitats and conduct research on how to help bats. Smart and other educational specialists travel the country giving presentations on bats, more than 1,000 programs a year.
Before leaving, Smart showed off a bat house developed and promoted by his organization. Able to house up to 100 bats at a time, bat houses can help save bats in places where their habitat is disappearing.
"But bats are in trouble, they are losing their habitat to development," Smart said. "We make them out of wood harvested near Tustin, wood that is not clear cut so it does not destroy bat habitat."
For more information on adopting a bat, bat programs or bat houses, contact the Organization for Bat Conservation at 517-339-5200 or visit their website at www.batconservation.org.