BATS by M. Brock Fenton
My memory tells me that this is the second significant bat book I ever owned. I can still recall the pouting that was required to secure the funds in order for it to come home with me from the store.
How could I resist its charm? There it stood – magnificent, glossy, four large letters emblazoned on the front and spine: BATS. It had just been sitting, shiny and new on the top shelf, waiting for me to notice it.
I digested it in stages. First, I held the book on my lap and basked in the reflected glow from the dust jacket. After I’d spent enough time reveling in this new addition to my collection I opened it and began pouring through the chapters one by one, making mental notes of the chapter headings and catching my breath at the stunning full-color images that were found on almost every page.
The last step was digestion. After putting some space between myself and the shiny pages in order to absorb what I’d already seen, I began reading it properly. Chapter after chapter I found new information to add to my arsenal of bat facts, and new ideas of what I really wanted people to know about bats when I spoke to them.
The book was written by M. Brock Fenton. (Originally published in 1992 (the year I purchased it), and then revised and reissued in 2001.) The man really knows his bats. Not to say that the myriad of other bat authors on my shelves don’t, but Fenton, like Merlin Tuttle, has the gift of making them accessible to the general public. Concepts often reserved for college textbooks are explained in a very common sense, easily absorbed way.
When I think of bats and bat experts, three names come to mind. Merlin Tuttle, founder of Bat Conservation International and author of several books including America’s Neighborhood Bats; Thomas Kunz, and M. Brock Fenton. I have too many bat books, by too many authors to remember, but these three names stand out among the crowd.
You can imagine my delight and sudden sense of urgency when, as I perused the latest issue of BATS! magazine (published by BCI), I read that Brock Fenton, professor at the University of Western Ontario, was offering a new on-line course in bat biology. My delight was increased exponentially when, as the article recommended, I e-mailed Fenton himself with questions about the course and he personally responded! (On the very same day!)
I am well on my way to achieving a bat trifecta – I’ve captured bats side by side with Merlin Tuttle in the Pacific North West, and now a course and correspondence with M. Brock Fenton. If I ever have dealings with Thomas Kunz my list will be complete.
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