It seems kind of demeaning to relegate such an interesting animal to the Halloween images, but, for now, it seems the best place for him. He does seem to have a bit of that scary, biting sort of look about him. Don’t you think?
This black bat drawing shows what makes bats unique among all of the mammals; as they are the only mammal capable of prolonged flight.
The reason we have this illustration is because a 1911 encyclopedia used it in their discussion of flight and flying. Their ability to fly is somewhat less interesting than their use of echolocation to see. Virtually blind, in the way we tend to associate sight with our eyes; bats emit ultrasonic sounds to produce echoes. Their hearing is so acute that they can even hear the fluttering of a moth’s wings.
While not a beautiful drawing, this black bat drawing is quite large. A larger version can be accessed by clicking on the one you see below.
This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.
