BATS 



eyes too ! But such strange things are believed 

 sometimes that it is no wonder that mistaken 

 ideas get about concerning little-known crea- 

 tures like bats. I have heard girls scream 

 because a bat flew by them and they thought 

 it wanted to alight on their head, where it 

 would get entangled in their hair and they 

 would never get it out. Of course the idea is 

 pure nonsense, the little creature being even 

 more afraid of them than they were of it, and 

 with as little wish to get tied up in their hair 

 as they had to have it there. As a matter of 

 fact all the bats found in this country are 

 perfectly harmless, being unable to hurt any- 

 thing bigger than an insect. Even the biggest, 

 the noctule, could not hurt one much, even 

 if it tried, for its teeth are not big enough to 

 do any real damage. A fine noctule that I had 

 taken out of a hole in a tree did try to bite 

 me, snapping angrily at my fingers like a little 

 bull-dog, but even it did not draw blood. 



It is usually rather difficult to find the hiding- 

 places where bats sleep, but this noctule let 

 everybody into his secret by falling out with 

 his friends. I was walking under an old 

 willow tree, when a continuous shrill squeaking 

 made me look up. It undoubtedly came from 



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