Tikimu’s letter

Press, 12 October 1976, Page 10

Tikimu’s letter

Dear Children, Bats are attractive creatures. It is strange to think that in olden times many people were frightened of them and believed that they brought bad luck, or were used by witches for evil purposes.

Now that we understand more about them, we marvel at the skilful way their bodies function. They are the only group of mammals which can fly like birds, and some of them may fly quite long distances. Bats’ wings, however, are formed differently from those of birds, being covered with wrinkled skin.

The old saying “as blind as a bat” is not correct. Bats have small eyes, it is true, but they find their way about in dark places in a remarkable way. As they fly they make highpitched squeaks — cries which human ears cannot hear without special instruments. When these sounds strike an objece they bounce off it and are reflected back to the bat as echoes.

It works as effectively as a modem radar system. For, by listening to the echoes, the bat has a “sound picture” of his surroundings, and can plot the size and distance of nearby trees and insects. He twists and turns as he flies to avoid obstacles and to catch the insects that reflect the sounds.

It is hard to find bats In New Zealand because they are bush dwellers and hide during the day in quiet places such as hollow trees and caves. There they sleep, hanging upside down, but just before dark they wake up and hunt for moths and mayflies near clearings, and over rivers and streams.

We have long-tailed and short-tailed bats, and both types are small. The short-tailed bat has a most unusual habit As well as hunting for his food in the air, he hunts and forages on the ground, and folds up his delicate wings to protect them. His strong feeth elp him and they are larger and better developed than those of the long-tailed bat. After winter, our bats wake up from hibernation, although the short-tailed ones sleep for shorter periods during the cold months. In the summer, the mother bat usually has one baby and for a few weeks he clings to her back as she flies about.

It is a happy time for the little bat in the bush just as it was in Shakespeare’s time when he wrote:

“On the bat’s back I do fly

After summer merrily Merrily, merrily, shall I live now

Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.'* Tikumu