92 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



THE SHUTTER 



should fasten with a hook at the bottom to pre- 

 vent the wind from banging it back and forth. 

 When the space between the sash and the back 

 board is occupied by the bats, they can be exam- 

 ined at any time by opening the shutter and watch- 

 ing the inmates through the glass. 



Bat houses constructed on this or a similar plan 

 should find a place on every farm, because bats 

 feed exclusively on night-flying insects and moths 

 which are as a rule most injurious to vegetation. 

 But bat houses can be made of only two pieces of 

 board each and when they are not made for ob- 

 serving the inmates, of course they need no sash. 



The open spaces between the logs of my house 

 at Wild Lands have from the first been favorite 

 homes for families of bats. In company with a 

 friend I was cleaning and adjusting my fishing 

 rods one summer day when I was startled by a 

 scream coming from the bedroom overhead; drop- 

 ping our tools we both made a rush upstairs, and 

 there we found my devoted help-mate in a great 

 state of excitement because she had "heard a rattle- 

 snake in the walls." 



I thought that she was mistaken, because it is 

 not an act characteristic of a rattle-snake to climb 

 to the second story of a house, but when I struck 

 the wall with my fist the blow was answered by 

 a rapid rattling noise which startled all three of 

 us. Each time I made the experiment of pounding 

 on the wall the "varmint" inside replied by making 



