9/11/2006 2:28:00 PM Some cultures view bats as being a mystical creature For the Birds
By Al Batt
Macbeth's witches came up with an interesting recipe. "Eyes of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog."
It was once believed that smearing the blood of a bat over one's face would improve night vision. The ancient Egyptians believed that bats could prevent or cure poor eyesight, toothache, fever and baldness, and a bat hung over the doorway of a home was thought to prevent the entry of demons that carried these "diseases."
To the Chinese, bats are regarded as symbols of happiness and good fortune (health, wealth, serenity, virtue and long life). At one time Chinese mothers would sew small jade buttons in the shape of a bat on the caps of their babies, a custom believed to impart long life. Ancient and modern-day art objects, tapestries, imperial robes and home furnishings often include bats as part of the motif.
Bats belong to a special group of flying mammals called chiroptera. This word is Greek for "hand-wing." Bats actually fly with a modified hand.
Frostbite Falls
A reader tells me that according to Paul Harvey's radio show, winter arrives first in Ester (near Fairbanks), Alaska, and Harvey reported on the frosty conditions on Aug. 24. It was 28 in the Goldstream Valley early that Thursday. It was a bit behind Barrow, Alaska, in the first to freeze race. Barrow had hit 30 degrees on Aug. 11.
Mosquitoes
There were those days of yore when I'd go for a walk in the woods and I'd hit a wall of mosquitoes - a squadron of bloodthirsty Transylvanian skeeters. There were so many, I'd not only become an unwilling blood donor, I'd end up with whiplash.
A mosquito can take a meal of blood amounting to 1.5 times its weight. A man once told me that his house had so many cracks in it that he was thinking of keeping a pig in his bedroom. Many mosquitoes found access to his home, but he figured that the pig - and its higher body temperature - would be preferred by the mosquitoes.
I swat furiously at a lone mosquito in my bedroom. If anyone thinks that little things don't mean much, they should consider a lone mosquito in a bedroom. Each time I swing and miss, I become more determined to not let a puny insect outwit me.
Hummingbirds
Edward Forbush wrote that the hummingbird is "a mighty warrior, with greater strength and speed in proportion to its size than any other bird that flies." The flight muscles are relatively immense, and it is possessed of such spirit that it does not hesitate to attack any bird, no matter what its size, when occasion seems to require it.
Kingbird, hawk, crow or eagle, can all quickly feel the effects of the ruby-throated hummingbird's displeasure. It has even been known to drive to cover a pompous Plymouth Rock rooster.
This little bird seems to have few effective enemies. He is too agile and swift for them. At times when he is not feeling truculent, he may allow some of the larger birds to chase him away from their nests, but I have seldom heard of the catching of a hummingbird by another bird.
Yellow jackets
A reader says he makes a yellow jacket trap by coating a few small pieces of cardboard with pancake syrup and placing them around the yard. The yellow jackets become affixed to the syrup.
A Sioux legend
Once there was a boy who, early in life, had a deep love for the sun. For hours each day he would sit and watch the bright sun on its journey across the sky. He would sing many songs in praise of the sunshine. Because of his strange love for the sun, he was named Sun Gazer. Through his constant gazing at the sun he gradually became blind. Yet, guided by the heat of its rays on his face, he followed the sun on its daily course. Today, he is known as the sunflower.
Crow chronicles
I once watched as a crow flew at our cows. It frightened the Holsteins. Crows are the class valedictorians of the bird world. A crow is a member of the Corvidae family that includes jays, ravens and magpies. A 20-year-old crow is not unusual.
Thanks for traveling with me
My thanks to all the great folks who joined me in Alaska. Their goodness made my life better.
Costa Rica
Please join me on a March 13 to 22 tour of Costa Rica. For more information, call 507-346-2494 or go to www.goodearthvillage.org
Thanks for stopping by
"No one else makes us angry. We make ourselves angry when we surrender control of our attitude. What someone else may have done is irrelevant. We choose, not they. They merely put our attitude to a test." - Jim Rohn
"I arise in the morning torn between the desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." - E.B. White
