CHAPTER VIII. 



Insectivorous Mammals. 



Under the heading of Insectivorous Mammals we have to con- 

 sider a few animals belonging to the two ordera Chiroptera and 

 Insectivora. The first of these includes the bats; the second such 

 small insect-eating animals as the shrews, moles and hedgehogs. 



There are a great many different kinds of bats, ranging from the 

 large fruit bats or ilying foxes of tropical climes to the little pipistrelles 

 and miniopteras of more temperate regions. Some are very beautiful 

 creatures, while others, such as the naked bat and the hammer-headed 

 bat, even the most ardent adorers of nature's creations could only des- 

 cribe as loathsomely hideous. Indeed, to many people, especially to 

 the members of the fair sex, there is something indescribably obnoxious 

 and terrifying in the most harmless species of this great group of highly 

 developed and specialized mammals. This is doubtless due to the fact 

 til at certain South x\merican species of bats subsist upon the blood of 

 other mammals, being literally blood-suckers. These have been called 

 vampires, a name which at once calls up stories of horrible blood-sucking 

 phantoms belonging to the superstitious myths of our forefathers of the 

 German Forests. Then, too, the facts that evil spirits in European 

 legendry are nearly always depicted as having bat's wings, and also that 

 the habits of the bat are nocturnal, have tended to class it along with 

 owls, black cats, toads and ravens as a creature of darkness. In our 

 childhood's fancies it belongs to the world of sprites and hobgoblins, and 

 it would seem that many of us never entirely outgrow our dislike for 

 these harmless little animals. 



It is strange, too, that the Chinese look upon the bat as a thing of 

 evil. They say it has an evil spirit, and never lose an opportunity of sub- 

 jecting it to cruel torture. 



As a matter of fact there are few animals that are prettier to watch 

 or that make more interesting pets than bats. There is so much that is 

 wonderful about them. They seem to have a sixth sense that warns them 

 when they are in the vicinity of any object, for in a room full of ornaments 



