Myths, Fables, Legends and Folklore

MYTHS, FABLES, LEGENDS AND FOLKLORE

Wednesday, August 08, 2007 (Napanee Beaver)

Friday, August 10, 2007 (Picton Gazette)

It was later in the morning when I finally told my wife about the bat. The bat entered the house so silently that even the dog didn’t notice it as I let her outside. The bat fluttered from room to room, eventually entering the bedroom where my wife was still sleeping, flapped a few times above her face before returning through the door, and back down the hall. As it fluttered toward me, I opened the kitchen door, and the bat disappeared into the darkness of early morning.

If anything, my wife seemed disappointed that she wasn’t awake when the bat was loose in the house. I think she wanted to see it. She is well aware of the ridiculous old wive’s tales about bats and their supposed fixation with hair entanglement. Old myths die hard. I well remember one person some years back relating the story in gasping breaths about a bat that he found in his house one night. His wife was understandably confused when she got up after he had gone to work, and found the pictures on the wall askew, a tennis racket flung with reckless abandon on the sofa and a hockey helmet beside it.

Bats have long been the subject of many such myths. That bats seek out hair, is a favourite. The source of that myth is unclear, but there are those who cling to it with great conviction, likely the same faction that also believe hummingbirds fly south on the backs of Canada geese. Being blind “as a bat” is another. Actually, bats have excellent eyesight, but depend on echolocation or sonar to locate insect prey. Bats are not dirty either, spending time, as a cat would, licking their fur, and they are not major carriers of rabies. A bat with rabies is not aggressive as we might expect; in fact, it tends to become very lethargic as it becomes progressively paralysed and less likely to bite, unless handled roughly. And we don’t have vampire bats, at least, not here anyway – they live in the tropics.

As a naturalist, I find myself dealing with myths on almost a daily basis. During the course of a conversation on a totally different topic last week, someone casually mentioned that it was illegal to drive a car in your bare feet. This popular myth has been around for decades. Driving barefoot is stupid maybe, but it’s not illegal.

Another one surfaced just last week, with the sighting of a cougar at Rossmore.. “Why would the MNR quietly release cougars in the area to control deer?” the person asked. I sort of expected a phone call relating to this myth within the week, but it came the same day as the cougar sighting, and springs to life every time a cougar is reported. The MNR must follow an elaborate public protocol when initiating any recovery effort for a particular species, including the establishment of a recovery team, and to my knowledge, there is no recovery team in place.

Last week, I had a marvelous trip down Memory Lane when I dropped in to see the new owner of the defunct Reptile Breeding Foundation, near Cherry Valley. This facility which became known world wide for its exceptional success at propagating endangered reptiles, was operated by the late Tom Huff. Established in the 1970s, I am sure it suffered its share of myths and misconceptions as local residents feared the worse, awaking in the middle of the night with nightmares of poisonous snakes slithering across the fields. Visions of “hoop snakes”, and snakes hundreds of feet long charming their prey, poisoning residents with their breath, and sucking milk from cows, likely ran rampant for awhile. However, if any fears existed at all, it was but for a short while. The facility dealt with exotic reptiles, non of them poisonous. I saw Tom work his magic with school kids and adults alike, dispelling their fears and convincing people that reptiles have had a bad rap all these years. His voice was soothing and convincing, and the well known herpetologist became an icon in the county and was called upon frequently for presentations.

MNR releasing fishers to control porcupines, birds exploding from eating rice, giant alligators living in sewers, ostriches everywhere burying their heads in sand when frightened, opossums hanging by their tails from trees, toads giving warts. It is one big dangerous world out there in the animal kingdom!

Even birders have had their share of myths to contend with over the years, the most popular being that a parent bird will abandon its young if they are touched by human hands. Coming in at second place is the belief that having purple martins will decrease the mosquito population. The old myth of 2,000 mosquitoes a day comes into play. The figure is based on a single bird, taken early in the morning over a salt marsh, which had 300 mosquitoes in its belly. From that it was extrapolated that it would have eaten at least 2,000 if it had kept going at the same rate all day. While they do certainly eat a few mosquitoes, it forms an extremely small portion of their overall diet. Martins love dragonflies. What do dragonflies eat? Mosquitoes ! But, if you feel that the presence of martins is helping to control your mosquito population, I am happy for you. In reality, it does not. I have them in my yard because I enjoy their presence.

“A lie can make its way half way around the world, while the truth is still getting its boots on” Mark Twain