On the wings of night

Choose the topic - "international bat night"

In the night from 20 to 21 September, the world celebrates one of the most unusual environmental events – the Night of bats.

His goal – to draw public attention to the problems of bats, before which many people experience unjustified superstitious fear, and to debunk the prevailing myths about these nocturnal creatures drink blood.

In fact, bats are amazing mammals which, due to its structure, has mastered the art of flight.

In recent decades, everywhere there is a reduction in the numbers of bats associated with felling hollow trees (namely, in the hollows of most of these animals finds a shelter), and use of various pesticides (bats die after eating poisoned insects) and anxiety on the part of man.

Bats are persecuted because of basic ignorance and prejudice, considering them dangerous to humans.

In fact, all bats that live in Europe exclusively insectivorous animals.

Many species of bats in Europe was on the verge of extinction, listed in various Red data books.

There is even an International agreement on the conservation of bats signed by many countries.

September 21, as professional holiday of bats was not chosen randomly. It is the day of the autumnal equinox, a time when autumn comes into its own. The bats in this period they migrate to their wintering grounds. Protection of wintering grounds of bats - one of the most important tasks, because in the winter they congregate in very large numbers and are particularly vulnerable.

Bats - the eternal man's neighbors. Our neighborhood started back then when we lived together in caves, and due to the fact that bats and our ancestors had about the same (temperature, humidity, etc.), they inevitably lived in the same caves.

The injured party had already been bats dying in winter of starvation because of the smoke of the fires and noise of irritation, to answer which they could only a waste of life.

Possible since then and have established some hostile attitudes to bats. In addition to the conflict there another underlying reason - after all, people periodically fought all night animal, be it a toad, spider, wolf, Jackal, owl.

In Europe it was traditional in nature, such are the terrible beasts, strange, but still somehow fly by night. Well, of course it is the companions of the evil forces or, at least, witches.

Prior to the development of Central America, in Europe, no one talked about what bats to the listed cons still drink blood. But in Latin America it turned out that there turns out to be bats-vampires. And, presumably, that just in the epoch of geographical discoveries, the news quietly made its way to Europe. But to drink human blood bats in Europe is still indiscriminately was not charged until the "black PR" did Bram Stoker with his Dracula. He is widely identified bat with a vampire. From that moment, Europe began the tradition of identifying bats with vampires in this mystical sense.

But the bats often suffered, because there are all kinds of recipes for getting rid of effects of evil spirits, in which, for example, need a live bat with nails nailed to a door or something. So bats and it turned out every time the injured party.

Of course, over the years of my vampirism around the bats worldwide there is a lot of superstition.

In Scotland, for example, there was a belief that when a bat in flight soars upward and then sharply drops to the ground, that means it's time witches, the time when she have power over people.

In Oxfordshire it was believed that if a bat three times circled around the house, it portends death, but if the bats appear in the early evening and fly around, as if playing to good weather.

The Slavs, like many European Nations, one of the species of bats, the bat was considered unclean animals, the devil.

The ancient Chinese, on the contrary, the character "fu", meaning happiness, is a homonym of the word "fu" which means "bat". Even the Chinese God of healers bian Cao was portrayed with bat wings and bird's head. Generally, in Chinese mythology, the bat is a symbol of happiness.

According to the Russian, Ukrainian and Polish legends, a Bat is a mouse that eats something sanctified: a candle, a piece of cake or meat. Poles also believe that the Bat turns seven years the mouse that escaped the cat's claws.

Bat according to popular legend closely associated with the evil spirit. Ukrainians believe her friend the hell, the poles - the evil spirit, the soul of a sleeping witch, Belarusians - the soul of a deceased sorcerer, Russian - fright. The poles believed that witches took under his arm leaves that can turn them into bats and releasing them directly from the armpits.

In the world fauna is found more than 1,100 species of bats. The diversity of bats is very large, suffice it to say that the mass of the smallest mouse - svinonosogo from Indochina only about 2 g, and the largest flying foxes - up to 1600 g, and a wingspan from 15 to 170 see Bats in many respects unique animals. Why should only their advanced system of echolocation, which is far equipment created by man. They are able in a very wide range to change the temperature of his own body in the range from - 50 ° to +40o.

Bats sleep upside down hanging by your feet for uneven walls, branches or poles. These clumsy for the creation deftly climb vertical surfaces and gets its food using echolocation. Over the summer, one of the indefatigable mouse can destroy more than 30 thousand mosquitoes.

All bats have poor eyesight, only adapted to the darkness. To hunt and navigate in space, they help wonderfully developed sense of smell, hearing, and unique ability to halocarbonyl, which in addition they have only the dolphins.

In the autumn of bats try to eat more to store fat for the winter, depending on air temperature, they hibernate in October-November. Have hibernating bats body temperature sometimes falls to zero, and the heart makes only 15 beats per minute, If the sleeping bat to Wake up suddenly, she could die.

Bats are caring mothers. Often for the birth and rearing of offspring females gather in separate groups. Bat for quite a long time feeding baby milk, and after the hunt is easy to recognize her among many others for the characteristic squeak.

As you can see, bats that live in Europe and Russia should not be afraid. In our country the international bat night – albeit not very well known, but necessary holiday: many species of these animals are already on the verge of extinction. But all life has a right to exist and is a single entity – our beautiful planet Earth!
...if You decide to walk late at night in a city Park or by the river, you may notice that you will need something strange.... Do not worry – it woke up a flying mouse.

Source : http://www.kidslibrary.ru/content/21-sentyabrya-mezhdunarodnaya-noch-letuchih-myshey