A week of flyers

First up in 'a week of flyers,' the only flying mammal.

This is a Lesser Long-Nosed Bat, raiding the hummingbird feeder at Debbie and Jerry's house. Their friend, Michael Gray, caught this one in the act - and another one in the background. These bats are annual visitors to Tucson (and are why we put bat cages around the hummingbird feeders in Sabino Canyon from August through October). They will completely drain feeders at night; they are unbelievably fast and agile. Take a look at more photos from our friend Beth from firefly forest, of these and the other nectar-drinking bats of Tucson.

And a bonus bit of a poem I wrote in 2007 when I was going through training for the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists:

Lots and lots of bats live here
They’re not mammals we should fear
Wing is hand and hand is wing
Only mammal flying thing. 

Insect eaters, those we like
‘specially out on a hike
Have large ears, with which to hear
And a membrane on their rear  

Bats under the bridges here,
Moms stay there with young to rear.
Males are off to drink a beer.
They stop by just once a year. 

Nectar-eating bats, you know,
Food has no where else to go.
No need for the bigger ears,
Nor the membrane on their rears.