An unusual scene unfolded on Sunday at the bat care station at the Zurich Zoo. Once a month, bats that are underweight after hibernation are awakened and publicly fed mealworms. “Jöö, how cute,” a small boy exclaimed, pressing his nose against the glass.
The public feeding is organized by the Bat Conservation Foundation, which is currently running the event series “A Year of the Bat” – a kind of charm offensive to increase sympathy for the small mammals.
Bats have long suffered from a persistent cultural stigma. Anything that moves silently at night, hunts in the dark, and hangs upside down in trees instinctively evokes insecurity, mistrust, and fear. It’s no wonder they were early associated with dark powers and the devil.
“Monsters of the Darkness”
For example, the ancient Romans nailed bats to stables to ward off demonic influences – a cruel practice that later also served to protect against witches. Bats were monsters dedicated to darkness, wrote Archbishop Hrabannus Maurus of Mainz (circa 780) in his encyclopedia.
Medieval painting also contributed to the negative image of the mammals. Demons, witches, or devilish creatures were often depicted with bat wings.
However, alongside those voices that made the bat the symbol of the ominous, there were early, nature-based perspectives. For example, Church Father Basil the Great showed surprising sympathy for the animals in the 4th century – especially for their preference for cuddling together to sleep. Their social behavior should be exemplary for humans, he wrote in a sermon.
Dracula – A Case for the Bat Lawyer
The 19th century saw a tremendous upswing in the natural sciences and, with it, neutral observations of the Chiroptera (as bats are called in Latin), for example in biology books with more or less accurate drawings, and lithographs.
However, in art, the ambivalent image of the bat persisted. An example of this is Johann Strauss’ operetta “Die Fledermaus” (1879). Although no real bat appears in it, the animal serves as a symbol of nocturnal transformation, deception, and revenge.
Defamation of character – British author Bram Stoker essentially created a case for a bat lawyer with his novel “Dracula” (1897). In it, the Transylvanian Count Dracula, an ancient vampire, wants to move to England to find new victims. Dracula is closely linked to bats because he can transform into one and is often announced or accompanied by them.
After “Dracula,” the shy mammals were collectively suspected of being bloodthirsty vampires wanting to attack everyone’s throats. However, of the around 1,400 bat species worldwide, only three feed on animal blood.
The early film industry of the 20th century found the vampire myth a godsend. In 1922, Max Schreck sank his pointed teeth into the neck of a beautiful maiden in the first vampire film “Nosferatu.” Countless adaptations would follow, cementing the image of the bloodsucking bat in the collective memory.
the film industry likes to use bats to create a creepy or dangerous atmosphere. Bats trigger primal fears because they move quickly and unpredictably. Flapping shadows and swarms suddenly breaking out of the darkness work extremely well cinematically, as do silhouettes against the moon.
Batman – Avenger in Bat Costume
In 1939, the first Batman comic appeared. Bruce Wayne dedicates his entire life to hunting down crooks and criminals and chooses a bat costume for this purpose.
“It must be a creature of the night, black, terrible,” thinks Bruce Wayne as he contemplates a disguise. After all, his appearance is meant to strike fear into the hearts of criminals. At the same time, the bat in the form of Batman becomes a symbol of an avenger who stands for law and order and the protection of the weak.
Foreignness and “Othering”
Western culture has long reinforced the bad image of the bat. Only the 20th century would be the age in which the bat would experience a shift in attribution. “What is it like to be a bat?” asked American philosopher Thomas Nagel in an essay in 1974. His conclusion: objective science can never fully grasp the subjective perspective. We simply cannot know what it is like to be a bat.
Nagel’s text is considered a milestone today because it decisively shaped the modern debate on subjectivity. The choice for his text fell on the bat because its sensory world – especially echolocation – is fundamentally unfamiliar to humans. It becomes a symbol of foreignness in the 20th century. It illustrates how attributions and “Othering” work.
Also, German-American artist Kiki Smith made the bat a projection surface for otherness in her exhibition “Bat” (2000) at the Whitney Museum in New York. At the same time, the artist emphasizes the vulnerability of the animals.
Star in Children’s Books
In recent years, the bat has received unexpected support: from children’s books. The otherness of the bat proves to be a springboard for addressing themes such as belonging, identity, and tolerance, while also sensitizing children to environmental problems and species protection.
In Tomi Ungerer’s “Rufus, the Colored Bat” (1980), for example, a little bat discovers an open-air cinema and with it the world of colors. From then on, he flies during the day, but has to wear sunglasses and take pills for headaches. When he one day sees a black and white film, he becomes homesick and returns home.
In the picture book “Stellaluna” (1993) by Janell Cannon, a fruit bat girl is separated from her mother and ends up in a nest of birds, where she is raised by them. Although Stellaluna tries hard, she notices that she is different. Both sides learn that you can be different and still like each other.
The bat has been many things: a companion of the devil, a social being, a bloodthirsty vampire, an art object, and a champion of tolerance. The foundlings at the care station probably don’t care about their reputation – as long as there are mealworms. Because bats are above all protected mammals whose habitat is increasingly threatened by humans.
