BATS
Jack Schmidling Productions, Inc.
Marengo Illinois
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BATS
Once upon a time, I looked like this and Marilyn and I traveled far and wide gathering information, miles of film footage and giving lectures on bat ecology and conservation. We propped up our lectures with "Batty" our IDOC sanctioned pet Brown Bat and our (and at the time, the only) film on bats, "Bats Are Beautiful".
The look on kids' faces when I reached under my jacket lapel and held out the torpid Batty, was all the reward we needed.
In our travels we literally mixed with millions of bats from the Midwest to the Tropics and always envied folks who called us for help or related stories of being "invaded" by bats. When we moved out to the country, the first thing we did was put up a bat house but the occupancy has been sparse in the extreme.
Unfortunately, we live in a wooded area with no natural or even artificial habitat for the colonial type bats. The bats around here are primarily the Hoary and Red bats which pretty much sleep in trees and are solitary in habit.
On a typical Summer night, we have seen no more than three individual bats which is about the same number as when we lived in the middle of Chicago.
BIG BROWN BAT
Eptesicus fuscus
Marilyn spotted this Big Brown Bat hanging on the side of the barn yesterday.
This brought back memories of Batty and an excuse to share some thoughts with readers. This is one of the colonial species and has been seen from time to time in our bat house.
Although most bats are not endangered in the official sense of the word, through ignorance and habitat destruction, they are being reduced in numbers to the point where official endangerment is only a matter of time.
For more information on how you can help stem the tide, please contact Bat Conservation International
founded by our good friend and world acclaimed photographer, Dr Merlin Tuttle.
Click here for
Bat Conservation International
Our film, "Bats are Beautiful" in video or CD format is available at libraries and most nature centers and schools. For more information, click on the "Video" link below.
ASTRONOMY BEER CHEESE FIBER CRAFTS GEMS INSECTS PRESERVED FOOD RADIO SILVER VIDEO