72 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



THE PET BAT IN ITS FAVORITE 

 POSITION 



it would have taken most of the family 

 time for the occupation of fly-trap. 

 Raw beef, in very small scraps, and 

 milk, which they greedily lapped from 

 a doll's spoon, proved to be satisfac- 

 tory substitutes for insects. In chew- 

 ing" they opened their mouths wide, in 

 the most unmannerly way, at every 

 bite. They would come down to drink 

 from a saucer of water arranged so 

 they could get at it. They always 

 made a great scrambling and flapping 

 to take wing again from the flat sur- 

 face on which the)- had alighted. One 

 of them occasionally dipped to the 

 water while circling about the room. 

 Sometimes during the fight, a fly 

 struck the membrane near the tail. 

 Instantly the tail doubled up, the in- 

 sect was "bagged" and the bat, duck- 



ing his head, devoured the fly without 

 ceasing his circling. 



Although they would hang on our 

 clothes and fingers, I never knew them 

 to take to any one's hair. They were 

 very clean and washed a great deal, 

 hanging" up by their hind feet during 

 the process. They licked themselves 

 all over, scrubbing their heads and 

 ears with their wrists and twisting- 

 Way around to reach their backs. 



( )ur Mary did not like their uncanny 

 appearance. "Och," she exclaimed, 

 when she saw the first, ''tis a little 

 young divil and 'tis. Oi-m not shtayin' 

 in the house wid a little young divil." 

 She did stay, however, but never would 

 she set foot alone in the room with a 

 bat. 



On warm spring nights, my little 

 rovers of the dark would be apt to 

 hang on the window screens and favor 

 me with a serenade of high-pitched, 

 cricket-like squeaks, to which there 

 was sometimes a response from the 

 pine tree outside. With my first bat, 

 the duet grew so furious and insistent 

 that, after flinging everything avail- 

 able, for several nights, at the bat in 

 the tree, with no effect save to cause 

 him to shift his position, I turned my 

 own serenader out of doors. He 

 stayed about the place for some time. 



Summer before last I tamed a bat 

 that used to fly in through my open 

 window. I shut the window and 

 whenever he grew tired of flying about 

 the room, approached him gently. In 

 about an hour he ceased to fly away, 

 and soon allowed me to touch him. 

 A night or two afterward, he came in 

 acain. That time I had some beef 

 scraps for him, and finally persuaded 

 him to take one. It was funny to see 

 him licking his jaws with his red little 

 tongue. The upshot was, that I fed 

 that bat several times a week, until 

 he went away, to hibernate. I think. 

 Speaking of hibernating, if you try to 

 keep them all winter, be sure they have 

 a cold place to hibernate in. And 

 don't ever shut them up, or they will 

 sulk and fret and grieve to death for 

 freedom. Tut if they are kept as I had 

 them, their elfin ways will make them 

 some of the most lovable pets that can 

 be desired. 



