Bats are the misunderstood mascots of Halloween.
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Bats and Halloween go hand in hand and not just because they are spooky or creatures of the night. There is a scientific reason behind their appearance around the autumnal holiday.
In the Northeast, bats are getting geared up for hibernation. The winged mammals are working to get their fill of autumn fare before they fly south for the season or tuck in for their long winter sleep. “For biological reasons, late October seems to hit the sweet spot for bat snacking as well as trick-or-treaters,” reports the Christian Science Monitor on Oct. 30.
Nate Fuller, a graduate student in Boston University’s bat biology program, has a theory about how bats may have become associated with Halloween. Bats were already associated with witches and dark magic due to their nocturnal behaviors, and when Irish and Scottish immigrants arrived in the mid-1800s with their traditions for fall, namely the pre-Halloween festival of Samhain, they noticed that there were bat swarms during that time each year.
Many bats have already begun their hibernation cycles or have flown south to find warmer climates by late October. Those that remain, often inspire fear as they take to the skies. Quartz writes that just like Batman, they are “the misunderstood protectors of society,” and that there is no reason to fear them. While bats are associated with all things horror, be it vampires, werewolves, or rabies, the fear they inspire is incongruent to their actual threat.
“Most people don’t realize how small vampire bats are,” Andrea Dugall, Oakland Zoo’s senior bat keeper says. “The larger bats like to eat fruit, flowers, leaves—they don’t eat people.”
Livescience reports that there are many misconceptions about bats being unclean. They are often associated with rabies. But only 3-5 percent of bats that have been tested have come back positive for the disease. That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to handle a bat. Many of them are so small that it’s difficult to tell whether they’ve bitten, and if they are carrying disease, it will be passed from their saliva to the bitten person’s bloodstream.
Despite their associations with the dark, bats are a great help. They eat numerous insects that could cause other problems such as crop damage and disease. So, when you see them flying up in their October swarms, say thanks.
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