As one of my part-time jobs, I feed animals on exhibit at The Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary two days a week. I love the animals and love being part of their lives. I also have pets of my own that include cats, a dog, a snake (my daughter's Corn Snake) and a Goldfish. I love all animals. I love animals that a lot of people don't find appealing, like snakes and bats. I don't understand why people don't find bats appealing, they are really cool animals. They are the only mammal that actually flies. Flying squirrels glide. They eat literally millions of insects that include flies, mosquitoes, gnats and moths. A nursing or pregnant bat can eat over 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour. Fruit bats pollinate and can re-seed a rain forest. For those of you who like Margaritas, bats pollinate Agave plants which are used in making that drink. Insect-eating bats save farmers millions of dollars by eating the insects that would normally eat their crops. This also means fewer pesticides being put on the food that eventually makes it to your dinner table. People have no idea how much they depend on bats.
Bats are not flying mice. Mice are rodents that have front teeth that constantly grow, making it necessary for them to continuously gnaw on various things so their front teeth don't grow through their mouths. Bats have small, pointed teeth that stay the same size. Mice have very large litters. Bats only have one or two babies (or pups as they are known as) at a time. Mice are part of the order known as Rodentia, which also includes rats, porcupines, capybara, hamsters, Guinea pigs and Patagonian Cavies. Bats are in an order known as Chiroptera which is Greek for 'hand wing.'
Bats aren't vampires. There are a few species of vampire bats in South America who mostly feed off of cows and birds. They don't suck the blood, they lick it and they don't take very much. They don't turn the animals they feed off of into vampires and they don't sparkle in the sunlight. Bats also don't get tangled in hair. Bat's don't get rabies any more frequently than other wild animals. Bats are clean and groom themselves frequently. Sometimes they have odd-looking noses or very large ears which allow for better echolocation. Talk about cool adaptations!
Many people don't like snakes but they don't realize how many mice and rats they would have to deal with if not for snakes. Mice and rats carry diseases that can spread to the human populations and snakes eat those mice and rats. Literature has made snakes look evil and bad, but they are actually very beneficial. Snakes really don't want to make contact with people and will defend themselves if a big giant foot threatens them, but for the most part, they just want to be left alone to eat rodents and stay warm.
Needless to say, I love all animals. They are all part of our ecosystem for a reason and as long as humans don't mess with that ecosystem, it will remain in balance.
