Researcher attempts to dispel bat myths

By MICHAEL BECKER Chronicle Staff Writer

If comic books are to be believed, bats are the ultimate symbol of darkness and fear, striking terror into the hearts of evildoers everywhere.

DEIRDRE EITEL/CHRONICLE At the Museum of the Rockies on Friday, Rob Meis holds Peggy Sue, a Malayan flying fox, which is the largest bat species in the world. Meis is director of the Organization for Bat Conservation and will be presenting two programs on bats today at the museum. Or maybe they're vampires in disguise? Or blind? Blood-suckers? Rabies-infected? Flying rodents?

All common misconceptions, said bat researcher Rob Mies; and they're misconceptions that have led to years of undeserved animosity from fearful humans.

Mies is director of the Organization for Bat Conservation, a Michigan-based nonprofit that tries to educate the public about the valuable role these flying mammals play.

Mies is speaking at the Museum of the Rockies today and will exhibit five species of bats, which range in size from a few inches across to having wingspans of more than four feet.

“When I first started studying bats, I thought I would probably work at a university or museum and be a researcher,” Mies said.

Instead, he has spent the past 15 years traveling the country, appearing at schools and on national talk shows and news programs to teach people about bats' importance and to dispel age-old myths.

“People just don't think bats are worth anything, like a rat or rodent,” Mies said. “What I realized was that if I don't get information out to the general public, those animals wouldn't be around to research anymore.”

Centuries of persecution by humans have caused a serious decline in the world's bat population, Mies said. He hopes knowing more about bats -- like the fact that a single bat can eat as many as 5,000 insects a night or pollinate plants -- will change public opinion about them.

“Nobody ever leaves afraid,” he said.

Mies displays only rescued bats that have been cared for in nature centers or zoos and animals that have been confiscated from people who kept them illegally as pets.

He said people often come to his presentations to learn how to draw more bats into their neighborhoods with bat houses, small backyard boxes where bats can congregate.

Mies' presentations coincide with a special bat exhibit at the Museum of the Rockies. The exhibit will be in place until January in the main hall at the museum.

On the Web: For more information about bat houses or about the Organization for Bat Conservation, visit www.batconservation.org

Reader Comments