Friday, October 31, 2008

On Halloween Fashion Sense Celebrates Bats


Along with bees, bats are increasingly endangered and very important pollinators. Halloween is a great time to celebrate them and get rid of all our prejudices and misconceptions. [Click on the above image to view a larger version of this cartoon. The text reads: 'I was out with my binoculars a little before dark on Halloween, trying to spot an owl I thought I heard, when a bat began to flutter around my head, which I admit freaked me out a little, and the bat was, like, Why do people find bats so repulsive? and I said, "Um, I don't know. Bats fly at night, and they don't have feathers on their wings like birds do, and they make strange noises," and the bat was, like, The same things could be said about a commercial jet on a redeye flight. No, I think people see animals as either good and cute or bad and ugly, and bats are definitely in the latter category, and I said, "Bats must be at least a little bit attractive to us because we love Batman, who tries to look and act like a bat," and the bat was, like, Yeah, I did hear that the latest Batman release -- The Dark Knight -- did very well at the box office, and I said, "I saw a list of Top-Earning Dead Celebrities in Forbes, and the recently deceased actor who played the Joker in that movie came out in third place," and the bat was, like, So who was the first-place top dead celebrity earner? and I said, "Elvis, and weirdly enough, Albert Einstein was number four on the list," and the bat was, like, Is it true that Einstein once said that if there are no more bees there will be no more humans in four years? And I said, "According to what I've read, that quote is apocryphal," and the bat was, like, Since, bats are disappearing, too, and we're important pollinators, why are there no apocryphal Einstein quotes about bats? and I said, "I don't know," and the bat was, like, "Endangered species can be worth saving even if humans don't think they're cute, and as it flew off, I called after it, "Don't forget to look at all the cool, creepy bat decorations tonight.”']

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