Have you been buzzed by a bat in the
evening? Might be a bit of a disconcerting experience for many of
us. We have enjoyed watching two reddish-brown bats dive for bugs
and a drink of water over our pool at dusk this past summer. We
never see many bats at one time, but we do see them regularly
during the warmer months. Bats were once considered the souls of
sleeping individuals because bats were seen at night, but not
during the day. Also, because some species dwell in caves, the
creatures were also connected to the Underworld and its mythologies
about death.
Bats that live in cold environments,
however, migrate or hibernate. Migrating bats are looking for the
insects, fruits, or nectars found where temperatures are balmier.
Hibernating bats, unable to find a source of food or unable to
store up enough energy to risk the perils of migration, sleep
through a good portion of the fall straight into the spring when
their preferred food is available.
To the people of the middle ages,
who feared anything that they didn't understand (some people are
still like that), just the way bats looked was enough to link them
with evil and witches. When you add the fact that it was thought
that witches used them in their brews and that bat blood was an
ingredient in an ointment that witches rubbed on their bodies
before attending a Sabbath, then bats were destined to be a symbol
of Halloween.
While people may dangle a bat or two
(or ten) about their home, the only way a person is likely to see a
bat in flight at the end of October is if one is roused from its
winter hibernation spot by accident. (And then it might not have
enough fat stored in its body to survive the entire
winter.)
If you have a pet bat, maybe you
will want to take it with you while haunting this cache.
Good luck finding this
cache.