What with All Hallows Eve being just a day away, many of us are knee-deep in imagery of things – both real and imaginary – that go bump in the night, presumably with nefarious intentions. Of these a sizable portion are depictions of bats. However rather than being the malicious harbingers of doom they are generally portrayed to be, bats are in fact both fascinating and ecologically essential creatures.
Which is why I thought this would be a superb time to call your attention to Merlin Tuttle’s new book The Secret Lives of Bats; My Adventures with the World’s Most Misunderstood Mammals. Dr. Tuttle, founder of Bat Conservation International, has spent decades studying the world’s bats and is extraordinarily well qualified to bring to light the truth about them; a truth which is anything but scary – with the exception being the fact that an increasing number of bat species are facing serious threats to their continued existence.
