Wings in the Dark
Where I live
I sleep where the sun cannot reach me - in hollow trees, rocky crevices, caves, attics, and sometimes barns.
When the light fades, I emerge, carried on silent wings through forests, meadows, gardens, and even city streets.
I belong to the night, and the night welcomes me home.
What I eat
I feast on the flying things you’d rather not meet - mosquitoes, moths, beetles, midges.
Some of us love fruit, others sip nectar, and a few rare cousins prefer a more daring diet.
But me? I eat what flutters by - and I keep the balance in the dusk.
My cousins and how we differ
My family is vast and full of wonder.
There are fruit bats with eyes like polished stones and wings as wide as your arms.
Tiny pipistrelles who weigh less than a coin, and nectar bats who hover like hummingbirds.
We live on every continent but one, and we come in more shapes and stories than you might guess.
A fun fact about me
I see with sound.
Echolocation lets me fly in complete darkness, bouncing echoes from trees, insects, even the beating heart of the earth.
To some, it is magic - to me, it is how I dance with the dark.
What I hope you'll remember
That I am not a villain, nor a bringer of fear. I am gentle, helpful, and far more important than I look. Without bats, there would be more pests, fewer flowers, and no pollinated fruit hanging from your trees.
