The bat

Media

Part of The Young Citizen: The Magazine for Young People

Title: The bat
Year: 1940
Rights
Fulltext: ' 422 THE YOUNG CITIZEN November, 1940 ELEMENTARY SCIENCE SECTION THE BAT By RUPERTO SARMIENTO• HAVE you ever watched the little black "birds" flying about just at dusk each evening? Do you . know what these "birds" really are? They are our friends, the bats. The bat is not at all nice to look at. He is an ugly creature, and, although he is timid, he is fierce when angry. He hunts for food at night and sleeps in the daytime. If you see him when he is asleep, you will see a queer sight. He. hangs by means of his toes, and rests that way with his head down. In this position he stays all day long. As soon as it begins to get dark, he wakes up, leaves his sleeping quarters, and begins to help us. As he flies about, he is helping us. Perhaps you are wondering how such an ugly creature could help us. But he does. As he flies about, he catches and eats hundreds of harmful insects such as moths, roaches, mosquitoes, and the like. *Head ·Teacher, Tonsuya Barrio School, Tonsuya, Malahan, Rizal. After a while he goes back to his sleeping quarters which may be in a cave, in a hollow tree, in thick bushes, or some dark part of a building. It is interesting to know that in some countries people build places for bats to stay. These are called "bat roosts." . A Frenchman once had a pet bat. He taught his pet bat to eat from his hand and to take pleasure in being petted. You may wonder how anyone could like an ugly bat as a pet. He does not look very intelligent as he hangs upside down. But wait; you'll admire him more when you learn to know him better. Do you see those strange wings of thin, dark skin which the bat wraps around him like a cloak? These are perhaps the most delicate sense organs in the world. Take the bat in your hand. He will not hurt you if you are gentle and avoid that frightened snarling mouth. · You'll feel the small creature trembling all over. That is because, to those sensitive wings, the touch of your hand is like a rasping Nof.lember, 1940 THE YOUNG CITIZEN file, rough and disagreeable. Those wings and his large, vibrating ears are the mystery and wonder of the bat. They enable him to fly in the darkest night, through the thickest forest, when his eyes are of little use to him, and pursue his insect prey without touching any part of a trunk or branch of a tree. Those wings arc made up of a close network of fine nerves which seem to be able to detect iri advance the slightest vibration in the atmosphere caused by the friction of air currents against solid objects. Because bats have wings, they used to be classed with birds. But bats are not birds-they are mammals because they bring forth their two or three baby bats alive, and nurse ·them with milk from the inother bat. The young bat is at first very tiny, naked, and pink, but' it clings vigorously to its mother's breast as she darts through the air. When at rest, the mother bat folds her delicate wings around her baby to keep it warm. Bats do not alight on the ground if they can avoid it, for they crawl with great difficulty. They cannot spring into the air from a flat surface, but must climb up a little distance in order to launch themselves so they can fly. There are altogether about 300 kinds of bats, distributed all over the world except in the very coldest regions. Usually bats are small, but some of the bats in Malay countries and in the Philippines have a spread of wings measuring five feet. These and other large bats found in the tropics are fruit eaters; these bats are really harmful. But, as previously stated, most bats feed ori insects, and ·are very valuable to man. Indeed, the bat . may be looked upon as the night policeman of our gardens and groves, for it devours enormous quantities of harmful insects. Children should not destroy the little bats, which, in spite of their strange appearance and harsh, squeaking voices; are friendly and easily tamed if carefully approached. Bats have always had an unde_served bad reputation. This is· not true of most bats, especially of the little ones which we often see flying about in the evening. But the Philippine fruit bats are injurious. There is. also another kind of injurious bat. It is found in Afriea, Central and ·South America, and elsewhere. This is . the iropical vampire bat which settles on horses and cows or even sleeping human beings and sucks their blood, sometimes so weakening the victim that death results. These bloodsucking bats get their name of vampire from the "vampire" of legend (Please turn to pagt 437.) This is a fruit bat carrying her baby, which clings to her fur, hanging upside down just as its mother does. November~ 1940 WAGNER (Continued from page 421) THE YOUNG CITIZEN 437 THE BAT COLLECTING BUTTERFIES (Continu~d from page 423) (Continued from page 435) and another is known as -ghosts that come out of ly. Then I. arrange them The M astersinger. 'There their graves at night, ac- in my display case. I fasten were knightly singers· who cording to superstition, and each specimen securely in wandered about Germany suck the blood of human place by sticli.ing a pin during the Midde Ages. beings. Of course, this be~ through it. Sometimes these singers lief is only a superstititon- My mother admires my met in contests to decide most certainly it is not true. collection very much. So who was the best singer. An There are thousands and. do many of my. friends, and artist has painted an imagi- thousands of bats in the some of them have gone nary. scene representing a Philippines which help and into the business of collectcontest of these minnesing- benefit the Filipinos. Have ing moths and butterflies.for ers, as they 'were called. A ,you ever seen thoughtless themselves. copy. of .this picture is Filipino boys stoning or I took my collection to shown on page 421. killing a bat? Do you think school where it was on disAfter years of exile, they. should do th~t? ·cer- play. My teacher showed Wagner was permitted to tainly not. We should pro- it ·to other teachers and return to Germany. With tect the bats, for that is the pupils and the visitors who considerable difficulty he only way we can repay came to 'our school. built a theiiter in the little them for their good work. Any one living here in city of Beyreuth 0 (pro- the Philippines can make nounced bigh-roit). He which place his famous a good collection of moths called this theater his Festi- theater is still in 'use. and butterflies. There are val Playhouse, and it has I plenty of specimens here. become very famous. It REVIEW took a long time to get it built, but at last it was finished. Wagner had fulfilled his dream of the union of arts in the creation of the music-drama and the Festival Playhouse. The last opera which Wagner wrote was Parsifal which tells of a knight named Parsifal and his deeds. This was completed in 1882. Failing health caused Wagner to spend the following winter at Venice, where, in 1883, he suddenly died. He was buried at Beyreuth, at I. Tell of Richard Wagner as a boy. 2. Tell of his early study of music. 3. When he was a young man what did he do in music? 4. Why did Wagner have to leave his country? · 5. What did Wagner call his musical plays? BOOK ADVENTURE (Continued from page 418) A sinking ship, a desolate cry, Tell of men who soon will die; The pirates now have gained the .top. Hurry! Can no man make them stop? 6. What stories did he One man left to save the use in his series known as ship! The Ring of the Nibelungs? One man left! He must not 7. Name the fou·r music- slip. dramas of this series. Far into the night so late, · 8. Have you ever heard I read to learn this one any of Wagner's music? man's fate.