BATS RETURN: They have fur, they fly, and they're coming 
to a crevice near you ... details ahead on Passport to 
Texas.

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

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

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

Meg Goodman is the former bat biologist for Texas Parks 
and Wildlife. According to Goodman, contrary to popular 
belief, bats will not purposely entangle themselves in 
your hair or attempt to suck your blood.

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.:08

Fortunately, we are finally beginning to appreciate 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.

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. :12 

Tomorrow we examine how these furry flyers benefit 
man.

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

That's our show ... thanks for joining us. We record our 
series in Austin ... the bat capital of Texas ... it's not 
bragging if it's true ... for Texas Parks and Wildlife ... I'm 
Cecilia Nasti. 



Total sound bite time:		 0:29.0
Maximum Script time:		 0:56.0 Suggested show time: 85.0 = 1:25