P. Pilgrim
pilgrimway101@yahoo.com
Bats are a very interesting mammal yet an obscure animal, they tend to come out at night and live in dark areas during the day like barns, caves and attics. They are found in nearly every part of the planet except in extreme deserts and polar regions. It is estimated that there are 1,400 species. There difference in size and shape are equally impressive. Bats range in size from the Kitti’s hog-nosed bat which is also called the Bumblebee Bat and weighs less than a rupee. This makes it the world’s smallest mammal. The flying foxes, which can have a wingspan of up to 6 feet are the largest of the bat family. Many bats hibernate in the cold winter season. Hibernation involves an extreme reduction in the metabolic rate of the heart, and respiratory rate that allows a bat to survive long periods of time without food. A bat’s heart rate drops from 200-300 beats per minute to 10 beats per minute, and it may go minutes without taking a breath. The bat’s body temperature can also drop to near freezing, depending on the temperature of the bat’s surroundings. Other bodily functions also slow down, which reduces energy costs by about 98%. Each night, bats can eat their body weight in insects, numbering in the thousands! This insect-heavy diet helps foresters and farmers protect their crops from pests.
Bats are not blind but have small eyes with very sensitive vision, which helps them see in conditions we might consider pitch black. Although they don’t have the sharp and colourful vision humans have, they fly using their amazing inbuilt sonar system to detect objects and insects and fruit. Over 300 species of fruit depend on bats for pollination. Bats help spread seeds for nuts, figs and cacao, the main ingredient in chocolate. Without bats, we also wouldn’t have plants like bananas, avocados and mangoes so they are a necessary creature.
One day I came across a bat which had got caught in a barbed wire fence, its tiny toe was caught in the twisted bard and the only way to free it was to open the wire knot with a pair of pliers. Within a few minutes the bat had flown back into its dark barn. The bat had chosen a poor place to rest and was hopelessly entwined. It didn’t find freedom because it was strong or smart or special, but because someone saw its sorry predicament and was willing to help it. People without the Lord Jesus Christ are like that bat. They have no way to untangle themselves from the problems of sin that grip their lives. All mankind is born with a sinful nature and cannot shake it off by themselves, but the wonderful news is that God saw our hopeless state and sent his son Jesus to save us. In the gospel of John chapter 8 verse 36 we read this wonderful promise If the Son (that is Jesus Christ) therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. The bat caught on a barbed wire fence had no hope of survival until someone came and set it free. You and I have no hope of being set free from our sin until we let the Lord Jesus Christ into our lives to set us free.
