this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2024
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Bats
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Bats are cool
Bats are the only true flying mammals. There are over 1,400 species of bats, and they can be found on nearly every part of the planet. Not only are they cute, they are also important...
Studying how bats use echolocation has helped scientists develop navigational aids for the blind. Without bats’ pollination, seed dispersal, and pest control we wouldn’t have bananas, avocados, mangoes, agave, or cacao… that’s right, bats bring us tequila and chocolate!
Found a bat in need of help?
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Do not handle it with bare hands! Bats can carry rabies.
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Here's a map of worldwide rescues and temporary care instructions.
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Bats should never be kept as pets: Here's why.
Celebrate bats with us!
Our community's mascot is Baxter. Baxter is an Egyptian fruit bat that was cruelly kept alone and confined to a small cage for 12 years before being rescued by a bat sanctuary. You can read the full story by clicking on his name.
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Bats can carry all sorts of diseases some of which can affect humans like rabies. However most of them don't, and they're protected species anyway so you're not allowed to touch them. If it does have a disease the best thing to do would be to stay as far away from it as possible and hope it goes away on its own. Either way the best advice is not to touch it.
I went spelunking with some friends once, and we were crawling through this section of the cave that was only about 4' tall. There were around 100 bats sleeping on the ceiling above us as we cautiously crawled past. Well, my crazy idiot friend thought it would be hilarious to wake them all up and started screeching like a banshee. All of the bats dropped down from the ceiling and started flying back and forth, inches from our faces. I was thinking that I'd kill my friend if any of us got bitten, but thankfully the bats completely ignored us and eventually flew off to who knows where. That same idiot went back to the cave a couple weeks later and caught one of the bats. We forced him to return it to the cave and release it. He was a fun guy, but prone to unpredictable, dangerous behavior.
Everyone's got that one friend. People get hurt when he's around, but somehow he never does.
His luck ran out when he hit middle age, and he has seriously injured himself a couple of times now.