An illustrator friend of mine, Heather, owner of thebluewindmill was
recently i
nspired to produce two wonderful watercolors of bats as well as write corresponding articles about them (see EFA blog) and in synchronicity I created a waycool Treasury.
WHAT DO BATS EAT ?
curated by brizel4TheAnimals
70% of bats eat insects such as mosquitos, scorpions, centipedes... others eat nectar, pollen, fruit and then some eat frogs, fish, rodents, birds and... other bats. Here's a really cool link to a page that talks about what they eat: http://www.batdetective.com/batseat.htm.
Spiritually speaking... bat is an incredible animal teacher - with powerful teachings of rebirth and transformation. Jamie Sams' Medicine Cards talks about "the journey of the soul", a process that can mean "a time of letting go of old habits, and of assuming the position in life that prepares you for rebirth.... bat signals rebirth of some part of yourself... the universe is always asking you to grow and become your future."
Bat is my totem animal of Within...
Like so many species today... bats are struggling to survive... their biggest threat is people, wind turbines and white-nose syndrome. You can read about white-nose syndrome here.
Loss of bats = fewer bats = more mosquitos = imbalance = higher disease potential for other mammals as well... so understanding what bats eat is crucial to understanding how their struggle will impact our survival.
Twilight has the making of a bat sanctuary... I have been wanting to install some bat houses here on the land and hope to in the future. Ideally they require to be positioned north facing on a pole 10' above ground. This year, a very tall pine tree went ablaze & died during the wildfire in June... with the help of a friend, I would like to get that tree topped and its limbs reduced in order to install one or two bat houses... Andrews Reclaimed on Etsy offers a well produced & super deluxe bat house which has been on my wish list since last year ! If you'd like to help sponsor that- please leave me a comment :)
Help a bat today
by giving one a home !
or
by adopting one through
Defenders of Wildlife:
Posts
Wonderful article! Thanks so much for featuring my cards and helping bring attention to all the bats!!
ReplyDeleteSuch a cool animal to have as a totem!
"bat signals rebirth of some part of yourself... the universe is always asking you to grow and become your future."
I'm going to have to remember that!!
Love your bat box and Heather's art! You've inspired me to make some bat houses. I've communicated telepathically with bats on 3 occasions - they are awesome beings and crucial to our ecosystem. You're awesome too Nicole - thank you!
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy Heather's art! Wishing you success with the bat houses! Nothing like sitting out under a full moon and watching bats fly...
ReplyDelete