If ever a creature seemed conjured by the forces of darkness, it is the bat. With webbed wings and feral face, the furry little beast appears to be the offspring of some monstrous union of bird and rodent. Over the years, legend has had it that bats are filthy and nasty (they feed on human blood) and that they possess spooky supernatural powers (they shift shape from bat to man). No wonder they have been a motif of countless horror tales and films.
This image, however, is the product of imaginative folklore, stubborn myth and terrible p.r. The bat, say scientists,...
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