Bats...

Val! This reminded me of my son who came home from school....first grade maybe, and told me he wanted a bat for a house pet! His second choice was a chicken.
We got budgies instead..lol (he's still weird at 38!)
We have loads of bats in Tucson...they sweep down for a drink in the pool at night....at sunset, hundreds of thousands of them take off from under one of the town's bridges, at sunset...it's pretty spectacular to see!

TY..I Love Bats, and they are no doubt some of God's most magnificent creatures. I am glad someone is portraying them in a positive, loving light. When growing up, we would go to the lime caves at dusk and watch them come out by the millions :) :)

They are darling! They must be having a bat problem in Australia, poor things! You are right Val that video is a game changer!

Okay that's cute-ish. :-/

I've no desire to get up close and personal with bats (despite the cute music in the vid), but a neighbor does have a bat house in his backyard, so I often see them swooping around.

That's cool -- they help control the mosquito population.

If you've ever lived in South Texas, where the mosquitoes walk around wearing body armor and gun belts, you'd know that's a good thing! ;-)

@Suzanne, there are animals in need everywhere...please be an active volunteer in your area. You will be surprised at the tremendous need...

@ Marlene...that's funny...budgie would be a better choice! @ Sooner ...now I can kind of see why! @ Suzanne it sure is...they have such sweet intelligent faces!

We have them here but not in numbers like that...at least I don't think we do.

psst, Wendy... Phoenix has sewer cockroaches that walk upright and wear top hats and tails!

We have a lot of bats in the evening but we also have a plethora of mosquitoes and they have been especially bad this year. I'm happy the bats are around, but I don't want to get too close either. They can carry rabies.

Hey, Marlene -- we have them here, too.

We call them 'house guests'. ;-)

It's proven they carry/transmit HIV....not so cute, really

@Vivian people carry/transmit/ HIV too, and the bats probably got it from a person anyway. As far as cute, neither are you, but we love you for what you are anyway. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder :)

Hey...Vivian is to cute! :) I still think it is amazing that they are cute! Although I agree with Wendy...I'm not planning on getting right up close. I didn't know about the HIV....most mammals can carry rabies. Now cockroaches is another matter...not cute at all...don't they even fly in some places....Yikes!

Yes, Val. We have giant, flying, cockroaches here. And lizards. And every other nightmare-inducing creature you might spot from the corner of your eye. Good times! ;-)

Oh . . . and these (hope the link works) -

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4244810934862&set=a.3951509122500.1073741827.1723316672&type=1&theater

I like bats, lizards and cockroaches, but am glad I don't have an infestation.

Bat is a lucky symbol for Chinese. The Chinese word for bat is "fu," and the word for happiness also is pronounced "fu." Two bats sketched on the wrapping of a gift convey best wishes and good fortune.

That's interesting, Alfred!

Filing that in my 'Learn something new every day.' folder. :-)

Wendy Oh No...that link worked and that is not for me!!! That was in your house??? Oh no that is not for me...we have bugs here but not like that! A flying cockroach...I thought I had heard that...that is horrible too.

Lisa you can keep the lizards and cockroaches and spiders and snakes and all of that. The bats were winning me over...except for the leathery wings...not bugs no way.

Alfred that is interesting...I love the Chinese symbols and traditions...they seem to have a way of making like much fuller.

The scorpions love to get in tight places like shoes and clothes. If you live in Oklahoma, you learn to shake out your shoes before putting them on. Sting is harmless but burns like fire for several hours.

Sooner,

You are right if people can they should help and there are many ways to do that, animals are a part of creation and very important.

I'm not a bat expert as it has been said they eat mosquitoes. Did you know that mosquitoes can transfer HIV?! I didn't and just learned recently if a mosquito bites an HIV infected person and the mosquito then bites you it can transfer HIV. I don't think bats bite do they, even if they have rabies?

@Suzanne agreed and liked :) I think they only bite in the movies LOL!

Wendy and Val, recently I saw an exhibition of "forbidden city " it has a dress wore by the Empress which has the bats as part of the pattern. if you look more you will notice the bats are used in paintings, furniture and architecture.
There is the market for bats to over a billion of Chinese population.

In certain areas of FL (mostly inland)...they are buying these wooden bat homes (or whatever they're called;)...it's the big thing now...they put them up high on a pole in the yard...because they eat about 300 mosquitoes a day or some large amount like that. There's a waiting list for the boxes!

I found out there are only one or two human rabies cases a year in the US that come from a bat biting a person. You are correct MM bats do bite. Thankfully it is extremely rare.

Another good piece of news, people contract rabies mostly from bats, rabies cases seem to be extremely rare. The article said if you see a bat that is not in it's normal habitat, in the daytime in your yard, inside a building, home, you should call the authorities because it may be sick and it should be tested for rabies. They caution you not to handle them.

@Suzanne it sure didn't look like those little babies would bite!
@Sooner I don't think I could sleep at night with even the possibility of a scorpion in the house!
@Alfred maybe we should start doing bats...I think I will do one...I kind of like them now :)
@Lawrence I am going to look into that. A bat house would be kind of cool!
@MM I agree...I don't exactly want to handle them...something about those wings still freak me out :)

Hey the link broke...wonder why???

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I just had a giant roach (aka palmetto bug) fly across my bedroom the other night while I was reading in bed. I got up and dispatched it with a shoe. I'm just glad I had the light on when I heard those wings flapping or I would have been hunting all over for that sucker.

We get bats flying around our place once in awhile. Here's a video I shot of one at dusk. I've made better videos but you get the idea...for the impatient, the best flying starts around the 2 minute mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TNrniOGM5M&list=UUWfG_m0IWSwWZJTky_7Jhqw

we need bats. they eat a tremendous amount of insects we don't want around....they munch all night long!!

funny story...
well, it didn't start out funny...my friend's mom was an avid golfer and her country club had lots of bats that lived in the trees in the golf course. she had a routine chest xray and they found a spot on her lung and proceeded to do a biopsy, suspecting cancer...turned out she inhaled some bat guano.

@ MM I don't think I would like that at all!!! We have stink bugs here which are bad...but not that bad!!!
@ Peggy that is very cool...you are a brave woman! I would not have been out there with them flying over my head like that!
@ Marlene Bats are good...I like them better after seeing my disappeared video (where did it go???) Well Bat poo is much better than cancer...but how DO you inhale it...wait I don't think I want to know!

@ Val...not so brave, I was shooting through the living room window! BTW, I can see your video when I click on "Post".

@ Marlene...Inhaled bat guano does sound better than cancer but still doesn't sound too healthy. I wonder if it's at all like inhaling mouse droppings, which can cause a respiratory disease.

About 12 years ago I contracted to remove and replace the 2x12 pecky cedar siding on a 2 story house that was a vacant rental of the owners. We set up scaffolding around the house. When we started removing boards up by the eves bats would fly out in your face. It was pretty funny to see the guy I was working with jump back when a bat flew out. Not as funny when it happened to me.The neighbors said they would sit out side at dusk and watch hundreds of bats fly out for the night. They called it the bat house.
Another story is all the wall cavities filled with acorns by wood peckers and a lot of the big carpenter bees flying out.

@ LOL Peggy that is where I would be shooting from!
@Jim oh I would probably have jumped right off...I am now thinking the "birds" I sometimes see flying at dusk might actually be bats!

@ Val, if they're flying at dusk it's very likely it's bats. They kind of swoop around and they're fast. Every time I've seen a bat flying it's been dusk or very close to completely dark.