July 05, 1990 - A Week Full BatsC14 The Suffolk Times • July 5, 1990
A Week Full Bats
By Paul Stoutenburah
It's awfully hard at this time of the
year to find time to sit down and write.
The perfect example that set the
Stoutenburghs into action was when a
friend called and said the blues were run-
ning. Needless to say, all other matters
came to a halt and a fishing party was
rounded up. Having a grandson who's
getting old enough to start learning the
finer things in life like fishing, I sug-
gested he come along. Of course, he
jumped at it and so, along with my
youngest son Roger, we were soon on
the beach where others were casting
their lures into the unknown.
Roger was the first to get a fish and
the thrashing, silvery, blue -green fish
threw an excitement into our young ap-
prentice that only his generation can
muster. Roger, now satisfied he'd
gotten a fish, took on the task of
instructing our beginner in the art of
surfcasting. I, in the meantime, did my
best and finally caught one. That
evening our total was three. Why is it
grandfathers always seem to wind up
cleaning the fish? So ended our first
adventure.
We had such a good time all agreed to
get up early the next morning and try
again. Sure enough, at 5:30 Roger
rolled in with his pickup, for the plan
was to bring the canoe along so Robby
could get out where the fish were, since
his surfcasting lessons still needed some
work. He hadn't showed up so I went
next door to get him. Sure enough, he
was fast asleep. The alarm clock hadn't
budged him. Sleep was hard to shake
and proof of it was he started by putting
Focus on
Nature
his pants on backwards, but
nevertheless we were on the beach with
all our gear around six.
Beginner's Luck
Roger would work the beach while
Robby and I took the canoe. It wasn't
long before Robby screamed, "I've got
something and I can't reel it in!" I fig-
ured his heavy "Hopkins" had hung up
on the bottom, so I took the pole and to
my surprise found he'd hooked into a
bluefish. Well, if you wanted to see ex-
citement in a young boy's eyes, you
should have been there as he worked the
tugging fish towards the boat. The pole
was too big and the spinning reel un-
gainly, but soon the silvery dashing
blue came into sight. I thought
Robby'd go right in after it! He even
forgot his canoe manners and started
standing up with excitement. With a bit
of grandfatherly advice, along with his
excitement, too, we got the fish in,
which made Robby's day. We caught
four fish that morning.
That evening we invited friends over
and had stuffed bluefish over the fire,
the "catch of the day." When the meal
was over and everyone was satisfied, we
decided to go up and see how the fishing
was going. Of course, we wouldn't go
without bringing a pole or two along
just in case. When we arrived we found
more family there, including Grand-
mother. It was a real summer outing for
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Closed Wednesdays
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
RED BAT WITH YOUNG —Like any animal with young, this little bat
that we often see at dusk hunting for insects is showing her teeth in
hopes of persuading you to keep away. You can see the ear of one of
the three nursing young under the chin of the mother.
folks from two to 82. The gals and kids
sat on the beach while the men tried
their luck, and luck was again with us
when we added four more blues. Enough
now to give away to some who don't
have the opportunity to get to the beach
themselves.
Bat With Babies
Even with the business of summer
fun I was real glad to receive a call from
a lady who said she had a bat in her
driveway. What made it particularly ex-
citing was that she said the bat had ba-
bies. I'd seen bats before and written
about them, but I never expected to see
one with young.
We drove up and sure enough, there
was a little red bat all crouched over,
and under its wings clinging to it were
what appeared to be two baby bats.
Why was she lying there exposed on the
blacktop driveway? A cat or car could
surely have done her in if it wasn't for
the concerned housewife calling me. It
was my belief she had tried to fly, as
bats sometimes do with their young,
but these were too big for such an
adventure.
Bats, of course, are one of man's best
friends, living on flying insects of all
sorts. We do see them at dusk in their
erratic flight as they snatch up insects
with the aid of one of nature's greatest
detecting systems. After homing in
with their radar -like ability, they capture
the insect in flight in the lower
membrane section of their body, then
reach down and pluck it up for a meal.
From what I read we mostly have the
little brown bat and red bat here on the
East End. They live in hollow trees,
abandoned chimneys and buildings,
where ever there is an opening for them
to get in. Almost any dark place will,
do. I've even found them hanging in
bushes and in trees where it is shaded
and comparatively dark. Bats, like any
other mammal such as the fox, raccoon
or even a stray dog, can carry rabies, so
picking them up with your bare hands
is not advised.
Usually I suggest that whenever you
find a wild bird or animal, young or old,
leave it where it is except in dire situa-
tions. Here in the middle of a blacktop
driveway with household cats about, I
thought it best to move it to a safe
place. We brought it home with us
where the bat never seemed to want to
fly or leave its young. I was concerned
that perhaps it was paralyzed by ingest-
ing insects that had come in contact
with some insecticide. This often hap-
pens with birds and bats.
We are now feeding it meal worms,
small bits of liver and even hamburger
from a pair of tweezers. To our surprise,
we found she had not two, but three,
almost -grown babies she was carrying.
No wonder she couldn't fly. We'll feed
it for a day or two more and then I'll
put it out in the woodshed where
hopefully she'll finish rearing her
young. So it is during the busy summer
days when there seems to be something
doing every minute of the day.
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