I have to say that I have not been that fond of bats – I used to work at a camp where every night, when the kids would watch a movie in the pavilion, bats would fly around our heads. It was a mite unsettling, I’d have to say, but hey… they never hit me, or any of the campers. It was funny to see some of the new counselors duck their heads the first night of camp, though… the one that we see in this video is SO cute.
It’s a juvenile bat named Jeddah. According to the video description, he’s a Grey-Headed Flying-Fox. He’s curled up on his mommy’s lap and he is in heaven while she scratches his head. The entire time, he’s squeaking in bliss. There are times that he even seems to be smiling. His eyes show that he’s happy. It makes me want to hold a bat myself, but then I remind myself of what they carry.
There is a warning at the end of the video that people should not handle bats unless they have been both vaccinated and trained. That makes sense since even a friendly bat could accidentally scratch someone and get them sick. I’m not sure that the woman that uploaded this video was referring to rabies, but it did make me think of that episode of “House, M.D.” where the homeless woman got it from sleeping in a place that had a lot of bats.
That said, I think that bats get a bad rap. They aren’t dangerous and only attack if they feel that their home has been invaded or if someone is stupid enough to threaten them. Otherwise, they just fly around seeking fruit and insects. The percentage of them that like human blood is quite low and none of them live in North America. Jeddah is a fine ambassador for bats… if more people saw this video, they might see bats in a better light.
