It’s Halloween, and many so-called “spooky” animals — from bats to spiders to ravens — often get a bad rap this time of year, but according to a director at the Nature Conservancy of Canada, some are actually helpful to humans … and some are in danger of going extinct.
Andrew Holland told 680 CJOB’s Connecting Winnipeg that the conservancy is working to help these not-so-creepy critters survive and dispel many of the myths that come up around Oct. 31 annually.
Bats, for example, are far from the vampiric bloodsuckers of fiction. Little brown bats, in fact — a threatened species — do valuable work, with the capacity to eat up to 600 mosquitoes in a single hour.
“(Bats) help farmers by keeping pests in check. They eat insects — they’re an insectivore,” Holland said.
“One of the big myths is that bats will drink human blood, that they’ll be chasing after us and drinking our blood, and that’s just not true.
“None of the eighteen bat species in Canada or any of the six bat species that are in Manitoba … none of them will drink your blood.”
Owls, also associated with frightening themes, are similarly misunderstood, he said.
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The wide-eyed nocturnal birds play a big role in keeping local rodent populations in check.
“(Owls are) an animal that comes out at night that we don’t get a good look at — and that’s why we’re a bit nervous or afraid of these species, because we’re just not accustomed to seeing them.
“They are out when it’s dark. When they fly around, they do it so quietly, it’s eerie. They just sort of sneak around, they’ve got those big eyes … but they’re a beautiful species.”
Holland said instead of being afraid, people should learn what they can do to help these types of animals survive.
“What we’re trying to encourage people to do — especially young kids — is to learn a bit more about these species in support of conservation efforts.”
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