Into the Outdoors: I saw a Cormorant & Let's Talk Bats

Today, May 1st, I had what was, for me, a first time experience. While taking a drive along the Allegheny, I saw a cormorant.  These large birds loosely resemble a duck or goose. They feed on fish, and can actually dive over a hundred feet to catch them.

A cormorant.

These birds are abundant on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, where it is common to see large numbers of them perched on trees, rocks etc. The birds are much despised in these areas, probably due to their ability to decimate fish populations. They are protected in many areas, much to the dismay of both sport anglers and commercial fishermen. As you can see from the photo, which I plucked from the Internet, they are a rather pretty bird.

I thought it might be fun to take a little look at bats. This might seem like a rather odd topic, but I have a reason.  A while back, my son noticed a bat on his drapes. Apparently, the warm weather caused the little critter to come out of hibernation. It should be noted that this type of situation can be extremely hazardous to bats, as the absence of insects, combined with their high rate of  metabolism, can cause them to become malnourished or even to die. In this case, however, there were also bugs around as well. Hopefully, that may have helped him.

Luckily for the bat, he did not venture downstairs. Had he done so, my little resident fur ball, Maggie, would have no doubt brought about his untimely demise. She has a tendency to dispatch any small critters that find their way into her territory.

Anyway, back to the bat. It landed on top of the curtains and hung upside down. It then fell to Ray to decide how to get him out of the house. He didn’t want to hurt him. Bat populations are, after all, declining, and the little guys are really beneficial. They devour tremendous numbers of bugs each day, including mosquitoes and other pests.  Ray was able to throw a cloth over him and release him outside.  

Bats have an undeserved bad reputation with a lot of people. I suppose some of the blame should be placed on Bram Stoker. In his famous book, he had the notorious Count Dracula turn into a bat at will. There is also the old legend that bats want to get into people’s hair. This dates back to the Middle Ages. People often had insects flying around their heads, and the bats would sometimes home in on them to feed. It was the bugs they were after, not the hair, but the myth stuck. Bats also have a reputation as carriers of rabies. Of course, living in the close quarters that they do, with hundreds sometimes in a single den, if one gets sick, the disease can quickly spread.  Bats should never, ever be handled. Besides the obvious pain involved, a bat bite can cause disease, especially rabies. Since you are unlikely to catch the bat that bit you, it’s a sure road to rabies vaccine.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my little account of an indoor hunting adventure for my son.

On another front, by the time you read this, walleye season will have returned to the Keystone State. These delicious fish are second only to salmon on my list of favorite gamefish. In the near future, we’ll look at some ways to put them in the skillet.

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Email: salmonangler1@gmail.com