Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Despite improved public relations, some people remain terrified of bats.

04—A lot of people fear bats because of a lot of myths and superstitions associated with them.

Meg Goodman is the former bat biologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife. She said bats would not purposely entangle themselves in your hair, or attempt to suck your blood.

08—We do a lot of work to get the message across that bats are actually very, very beneficial for us, and they’re very gentle creatures and very interesting to learn about and learn from.

Thanks to the work of people like Goodman and organizations like Bat Conservation International, we’re beginning to develop an appreciation for bats. In fact, we have even started to look forward to seeing certain bats—such as the Mexican free tail—that winters in Mexico and summers in Texas.

12—The Mexican free-tailed bat is probably one of our most common bats in the state, and people know it because it lives in such large numbers in places such as bridges and caves and makes nightly emergences that many people can come out and watch.

Tomorrow how these furry fliers benefit man.

05—The Mexican free-tailed bat, in particular, is really valuable for agricultural purposes.

That’s our show for today…thank you for joining us…we record our series at Block House Studios in Austin… the bat capital of Texas…for Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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