A bat paid a visit to the Dispatch offices Tuesday morning.

It hung itself upon an window muntin outside and roosted there through the afternoon, now and then changing positions. Some passers-by stared.

This reporter made pictures of said bat at 11:30 a.m. and e-mailed them to local bat expert Darren Miller, who has researched bats for years for Weyerhaueser, for identification.

“It looks like a tri-colored bat (formerly called an eastern pipistrelle),” Miller replied.

At his Weyerhaueser office Thursday, Miller, who is manager of the company”s Southern Environmental Research program, clicked through scores of pictures he”d taken on bat-catching trips called Bat Blitzes, prompting him to recall fond memories.

“There”s an important part for bats to play,” said Miller, who serves as president of the Southeastern Bat Diversity Network. Some bat species pollinate agave plants, which yield tequila, and many species eat mosquitoes, moths and other insects, he said.

Miller stands out as a kind of anomaly, as he can pursue a hobby and work at the same time. To be sure, though, Miller is not the only bat enthusiast in the Golden Triangle.

A decade ago, Angie Basson was surrounded and entertained by bats all the time when she was giving tours through Raccoon Mountain Caverns in Chattanooga, Tenn., and occasionally exploring undeveloped caves for fun.

Now she lives a different life, repairing blood pressure machines for Burdine Health Services in Columbus, yet she is quick to offer fun bat facts — the little brown bat, she said, for example, can eat up to 500 mosquitoes in one hour — and come to the mammals” defense.

To many people, she said, bats are “flying rodents that carry diseases. They”re not a rodent — just like we are.”

Of course, she and other bat fans said, a small percentage of bats carry rabies, which can be fatal if not treated immediately, but none can transfer the West Nile virus.

What”s more, she said, even though many people tend to think every bat is a vampire bat, the species is not found in North America.

“Bats are very beneficial,” she said. The creatures” guano serves as fertilizer for plants such as bananas and assist in reforestation, she said.

But before she knew much about bats, she was awestruck by the sight of their flight. She said they appear drunk.

“If you get a chance to go and see a nursery cave, or see a bat colony fly … it”s a really neat experience,” she said.

Having seen bats emerging from caves and flying outward from treetops all over the South, Miller knows what Basson is talking about.

But he likes to go beyond being a spectator. The Bat Blitzes he attends offer him a chance to boost his credentials. He can”t help but brag.

“Down here, just trapping in the woods, eight, nine, 10 bats would be pretty good,” he said. “I”ve caught as many as close to 40 in a night, which is exceptional.”

Alison McCartney, vice chair of the Mississippi Bat Working Group, was impressed with Miller”s capture record.

“If you catch five bats in a night, you had a good night, without a doubt,” said McCartney, who works for the federal Bureau of Land Management in Jackson and has attended Bat Blitzes with Miller in the past.

Miller is not selfish with his vast knowledge of bats. He said he has participated in several public-outreach campaigns to inform people about bats.

“I understand that there”s a lot of misinformation and not being sure about these things,” he said, referring to bats. “I like people to appreciate what they are.”

Marcia Lane, who splits her time between her Columbus plantation and her Atlanta condominium, has already come to the bats” side.

When Lane was a docent at the Atlanta zoo about 12 years ago, she said, a herpetologist talked her into raising a little red bat. She fed the bat every two hours except from noon to 6 p.m., but the bat died. She learned later the species had never been successfully raised in captivity. But through that experience she came to love bats, as she does many living things.

“It doesn”t matter,” she said, “if they”re leeches or bats or what — they”re just all fascinating, fascinating, fascinating creatures.”

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.

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