Bat Anatomy Lesson

Our specimen collector (Mr P) left us a fairly unscathed subject on the basement floor during the night. Bine and I found it this morning and went running to tell Pappa, our house nature expert/scientist.

Bine has been learning about bats recently because we have a lot of them around here. There is an outdoor restaurant on the island where bats eat from the hummingbird feeders nearby, which is very entertaining. We also have a few books with pictures of the little flying rodents in them. Lately before bed JA has been hanging Bine upside down so she can give me a flaggermus kyss (bat kiss in Norwegian--"flapping mouse" is the direct translation).

So it was good timing having a real one to explore. First Pappa explained that we can't touch bats with our bare hands; they are very dirty. Bine plastered her hands to her belly obediently while Pappa put on a glove. They looked at the wings, the stretchy skin, the hair, the tail (which Bine pointed out herself), and even the sharp teeth the bat uses for eating fruits (like any bunches of bananas we leave hanging on the porch to ripen).