

BATS AND VAMPIBES 199 



bites a tiny little hole in your toe, not bigger than a pin's 

 head, and from this he sucks till he can suck no more, 

 sometimes after his meal he finds himself too heavy to 

 fly ; and sometimes when the morning dawns the sleeping 

 victim is found to be dead. 



Cattle, says Captain Stedman, these blood-suckers 

 prefer to attack in the ear, and the best remedy for the 

 wounds is to plaster on the ashes of tobacco. 



The common bat which we see darting about in 

 summer evenings, so rapidly that it is difficult to be sure 

 anything has passed at all, goes to sleep all through the 

 winter. In this state it needs no food, but lies in some 

 dark place, hanging head downwards by one of its feet. 

 When the warm weather begins and insects are heard 

 humming round, the bat wakes up too, and flies after them. 

 For though bats will sometimes eat other things, insects 

 are what they like best. Many of them are full of 

 inteUigence, and can easily be tamed. They will attach 

 themselves to their masters, rub their heads against 

 them, and even lick their hands. But in general they 

 are not welcome guests inside houses, and are certainly 

 very disturbing to have in one's room at night. 



Most bats are of a dark colour, but strange stories are 

 told of their being found of a brilliant scarlet. In each of 

 these cases that have been noted the animal had chosen an 

 odd place for its winter sleep, for it was found inside a tree 

 which was perfectly smooth all round it, and there was 

 nothing whatever to show how the bat came there. One 

 of the trees was a wild cherry, in a wood on the Haining 

 Estate in the county of Selkirk, and was cut down by a 

 woodman, who was felling trees for fences, in the year 

 1821. The other tree was a pear, cut down near Kelsall 

 five years later, but in both trees the place where the bat 

 was hanging was just large enough to hold him, without 

 much room to spare. Neither bat seemed in the least 

 put out at his rough awakening, but spread its wings and 

 sailed gaily away in search of its breakfast. 



