Bats!

Phaserburn

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 30, 2003
Messages
4,755
Location
Connecticut, USA
I was walking last night using my Firefly II on a test run, alternating between high and low. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif Then, on the way back to the house, I switched over to a higher powered light.

What do you get for using a higher lumen light when walking in the evening, in this case an MC60 w/4Ah stick? Tons of lumens, the bright spill of which illuminated two bats flying in close proximity to me but at an altitude of around 10 ft or so. Even on high, the spill of the FF II can't compete with the MC60 (not that its supposed to) spill. So, lo and behold, I had company I wasn't aware of! The effect was kind of like switching on your car's fog lights; suddenly, there's alot more visiblity in your periphery you were unaware of when looking down the tunnel of your primary lights.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 

jayflash

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 4, 2003
Messages
3,909
Location
Two Rivers, Wisconsin
Bats will get close enough to startle you but are just after bugs. Bats are VERY beneficial; they eat lots of insects that annoy people.

When going through the woods one night, I switched from my Arc AAA to a bright incandescent and was astonished to see thousands of very tiny insects flying everywhere I pointed the beam. I may have been inhaling them, they were so densly packed in the air.. So if I bug any of you, it's because I inhaled. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
 

pjandyho

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 29, 2003
Messages
5,500
Location
Singapore
I don't have any fear of them bats. I once saw an injured bat lying on the road side. Picked it up so I could bring it to a safe place. It bit the flesh just between the index and thumb. it was painful but I endured till I reached a tree and left it there. I thought I might get rabbies but as luck would have it, I am ok. It happened 3 or 4 years back. Since then, I have no fear of bats and in fact like them more.
 

Flying Turtle

Flashaholic
Joined
Jan 28, 2003
Messages
6,509
Location
Apex, NC
Speaking of bats, I had one fly into my basement last night. As far as I know it's still there. Hopefully I'll be able to flush it out tonight, unless the cat gets it first.
 

idleprocess

Flashaholic
Joined
Feb 29, 2004
Messages
7,197
Location
decamped
I see bats all the time in suburbia flying just beyond the reflected glow of kilowatts of streetlighting and parking lot illumination.

The local mockingbird population is an equally voracious predator of insects - whenever they spot a fat grasshopper they don't relent until they've caught it. Cicadias, however, like to attack mockingbirds - karma, I suppose.
 

StuU

Enlightened
Joined
Mar 13, 2001
Messages
647
Location
Virginia
Last summer I woke up in the middle of the night. Sounded like a big moth fluttering against the outside of my window screen so I shine a CMG Infinity on the window....a big bat was fluttering against the screen but on the INSIDE. He had flown over our heads and was trying to get out the window screen. And don't ask how he got in....I don't know.

I slammed the window shut and was able to maneuver the screen out of its frame letting the bat escape to the outside. Phew!
 

bindibadgi

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 14, 2004
Messages
1,203
Location
Australia
That is wierd. Just make sure it didn't poo on anything. I hear that stuff can do some real damage!
 

smokinbasser

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 19, 2003
Messages
1,193
Location
East Texas
I have had bats eat their dinner around my boat in the evening while I was fishing and they would chase my lure till it was almost into the water, I had very few bugs flying around while the bats were dining and it made for a nice evenings fishing. I don't know about the fresh stuff but bat guano is a good organic plant food.
 
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