In a world where big, burly men screech like schoolgirls in the night, where elegant ladies are driven mad by leathery-winged creatures in their expensively-coiffed hairdos… There is no escaping the horror! CHIROPTOPHOBIA: The Movie!
No, it’s not a thriller about vampire chiropractors loosed on the unaligned spines of the public… it’s about rabid, blood-sucking, flying little bats. There’s the pitch anyway, and as with most thrillers, it’s about as likely as a plane full of snakes. So, how about a dose of ‘just-the-facts, ma’am’?
There are about 1,100 species of bats worldwide, ranging in size from the bumblebee bat with a six-inch wingspan, to the flying foxes of Indonesia which swoop through the fruit-filled forest on six feet of wings. Although feared by many, the cosmetically challenged critters are more closely related to humans than rodents. The bones of the bat’s wings are essentially the same design as those of the human hand. Bats can scoop things up and even cradle their offspring. In mid-flight, they can slingshot food into their mouths. Try that on your next red-eye.
These much-maligned night dwellers are the only flying mammals and can live up to 30 years. Bats are responsible for the pollination of many tropical plants. Only three species sustain themselves with blood, but you’re more likely to suffer serious injury in a fall trying to escape a bat than you are to be bitten by one. They are not blind, and a large colony of bats can eat up to 10,000 pounds of mosquitos each night.
In the category of “What won’t the Pentagon think of next” - during WWII, tiny incendiary bombs were attached to bats with the idea that they would be released at night over Japanese industrial targets. At dawn, they would roost in buildings and shortly thereafter built-in timers would ignite the bombs. In a test at Carlsbad, New Mexico the bats roosted under a fuel tank and blew up the test range. This program came in at $2 million and was still on track when a more infamous device, the A-Bomb, was created.
At FootageBank HD, we’re batty for High Definition, and the only thing you’ll find in our belfry is high-flying footage. To view and download bat clips, click here.
