I have a wildlife zoo

Liu Xueqing listened to the examples explained by the two men, and although they hadn't gotten to bats yet, she understood one thing: eradication and driving away bats might ultimately end in failure, and moreover, if carried out on a large scale, it might actually bring about some negative consequences.

Her curiosity piqued, what role do bats play in the ecosystem?

Fang Ye didn't address this question directly.

He had accompanied the staff a few times on their missions to drive away the bats, asking citizens why they were afraid of them.

One important reason was that bats had a bad image!

They resembled rats to some degree, and with their ferocious faces, sharp teeth, and ability to fly, the association with filth and disease came subconsciously.

Judging an animal's danger level based on its appearance is, in fact, quite human.

Cuddly and chubby creatures like the giant panda or the red panda don't seem dangerous; they just look clumsy and cute, whereas snakes, bats, spiders, and other animals that don't match popular aesthetics are considered scary, even if they're not dangerous.

So Fang Ye planned to start his explanation with the aspect of appearance, to allow the audience to understand and thus alleviate their fears.

"Bats are also animals that are surrounded by many misconceptions. In fact, it's not surprising that everyone is afraid of them, after all, they're ugly and have no rights," he quipped.

Fang Ye cracked a small joke, and both the host and Wang Yan laughed.

Wang Yan said, "I've never been afraid of bats; as a child, I found them very mysterious. They would only come out at dusk, and when the sky was still faintly lit, swarms of them would come out of nowhere, flying about in the sky.

It was like something out of a fairy tale; Cinderella was cast with a spell, put on her glass slippers, everyone danced together, and then as soon as it was light, they would magically disappear."

The host said, "I also have a deep impression of bats. As a child, I was watching 'The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber,' and the Green Winged Bat King Wei Yixiao, who kidnapped people to drink their blood, gave me a creepy feeling, which caused me to be somewhat afraid of bats.

As soon as it got dark, they would all come out in large numbers, flying fast and low. I didn't dare go outside, afraid they would suck my blood, but my mother told me not to worry, that they wouldn't bite people. It seems like you hardly see bats when you grow up."

Fang Ye said, "Everyone has different sources for their fear of bats. Many people might be influenced by TV dramas, various novels, and film works, where vampires have sharp fangs and a sinister and terrifying appearance, preying on human blood in the dead of night.

Being ugly is indeed a major reason. In the process of communicating with citizens, we are frequently asked why bats are so ugly, that they look disgusting.

Their faces are wrinkled and layered, and it's simply incomprehensible, unacceptable.

In reality, a bat's face being the way it is is like humans having flexible fingers, the red panda having black and white fur, and the red-crowned crane having a sharp, long beak; all these features evolved to better adapt to the external environment. It's quite normal.

Let's imagine, if we were standing in front of a bottomless, dark, open cave, not knowing its depth, what would we do?"

After thinking for a moment, the host said, "Pick up a rock and throw it down, listening for how long it takes for an echo to come back?"

Fang Ye said, "Exactly, we would throw a stone, or stand on the edge and shout into the abyss, and through the echo that returns in the darkness, we would know the depth of the cave, and even discern whether the cave is spacious or narrow. Whether there would be a danger if we fell, or if the inside is very straight or has various twists and turns?"

"This actually isn't much different from the abilities of bats."

The host said, "Sound localization."

Wang Yan smiled and said, "Just like those blind martial artists who can still fight back and forth with their enemies by listening to the sound of the wind from their palms."

Fang Ye said, "When we humans can't judge position through vision, using sound to locate things is still engraved in our genes; it's one of our instincts.

For example, when we talk face to face, we are using normal voice levels. But if we see a friend across the street while out shopping, we would instinctively raise our voices, shouting their names towards them. If the traffic is noisy, we might even put our hands to our mouths to form a megaphone and shout louder.

By shouting like this, we change the frequency of the sound from low to high, which increases its penetrative ability, and the directionality becomes stronger, allowing the sound to travel farther.

Similarly, when a bat sees a mosquito or a fly in the air, it also increases its frequency, which allows for more precise localization and successful predation. So, from this perspective, humans and bats share the same abilities."

Humans and bats share the same abilities?

Many viewers of the show were stunned to hear this statement!

Listening to Fang Ye's lively examples and explanations, the veil of mystery surrounding bats gradually lifted, and they didn't seem so mystical anymore!

With this fascinating connection, the fear of them also imperceptibly dissipated a bit.

Fang Ye continued, "As bats evolved, they had to solve a problem.

When flying in the air, if I snatch this fly and start chewing, I wouldn't be able to continue shouting out sound waves with my voice.

Now think about it, wouldn't that be dangerous? If they crashed into a wall, a tree, or fell into water—not dying from the hunt but from hitting their heads against a wall—that would be an awfully foolish way to die.

So bats came up with a great method: they use their noses.

Though bats still use their vocal cords to emit sound waves, they do so through their noses, which have evolved into a complex structure that helps to direct the propagation of sound better, and their ears have correspondingly grown larger so that they can distinguish these sounds clearly, even in the presence of many of their own kind."

Watching the TV, Liu Xueqing suddenly realized, "Oh~ so that's why bats look like that, with their noses all wrinkled up!"

Yingying's father added with a sigh, "That's why you can't just look at appearances!"

It's like seeing a person on the street with a face full of blotchy scars, repulsively ugly, and instinctively feeling scared and fearful.

But when you learn that this person got scarred trying to rescue a trapped child from a fire, you won't be afraid anymore; instead, you'll feel respect and admiration.

The viewers watching TV now had a whole new understanding of bats.

They felt that bats didn't seem so ugly anymore, and their fear had greatly diminished; some even marveled at the wonders of species evolution!

Emitting ultrasonic waves through their noses is indeed a fascinating ability.