HOW THE BATS SAVED CHRISTMAS
Once upon a time, Santa and the reindeer were delivering presents in the Texas Panhandle and became lost in the middle of a big snowstorm.
A colony of Mexican free-tailed bats happened to be migrating to Mexico, and seeing Santa was lost, flew over to offer their help. When Santa saw the bats headed his way he became frightened, thinking the bats were after his long white hair. By the time the bats had landed on Santa’s sleigh, he had frantically stuffed all of his hair under his cap. He looked so funny that the bats had to giggle before they were able to tell Santa that bats don’t want to become tangled in hair – that’s just a silly rumor. The bats offered their help and Santa accepted. Guided by echolocating bats, Santa was out of the snowstorm in no time at all.
After parting ways, Santa and the reindeer flew off to finish delivering presents. As soon as the bats were out of sight, Rudolph breathed a huge sigh of relief. He thought all bats were vampires and wanted to suck his bright red nose. Poor Rudolph, he didn’t realize that there are over 1000 different kinds of bats, and almost all of them eat insects and fruit.
Santa decided he needed to reward bats for helping save Christmas. But because bats in the wild either hibernate or migrate during the winter, he could only reward the bats in captivity.
Santa carefully chose his treats for the different kinds of bats. He gathered mangos and figs for the fruit bats, and avocado, a favorite treat of the insect-eating bats. Santa wanted to surprise the bats on Christmas but he made a big mistake. He didn’t think he needed to bother sneaking down the chimney, so he walked through the door and delivered his presents to the bats while they watched. Poor Santa, he still had a lot to learn; he thought bats were blind.
Embarrassed to be seen, Santa’s ruby cheeks turned even more red. On his way out the door, he paused to read the educational displays about bats hanging from the wall, and he left both enlightened and inspired. As he flew off into the night sky, and could be heard proclaiming …”Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night, and Please Help the Bats with All of Your Might”!
Happy Holidays!
From Bat World Sanctuary
