All over the world, misconceptions about bats have led to campaigns to eliminate bats entirely. Unfortunately, humans have developed weapons and explosives that are highly effective at doing this.
In his book The Secret Lives of Bats, Merlin Tuttle describes one method of elimination.
As we stopped the pickup and got out, one of the men hoisted the flamethrower onto his back. It was fairly simple. A couple of fuel tanks in a special backpack were held in place with shoulder straps. A hose, pistol grip-type trigger, and nozzle were hand-held in front. When the trigger was pulled, a stream of gas would be ignited and sprayed up to 30 feet, incinerating anything in its path. I made sure I was in the rear.
However, in that instance, and many others, just a little bit of education and outreach about bats can turn things around. Moreover, looking at the way we treat bats reveals other beliefs that we hold about nature. Wrongs Beyond Number represents both hope and grief in bat conservation.
The title Wrongs Beyond Number is taken from W.B. Yeat's poem The Watch-fire, and the Book of Job from the Bible.
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The Book of Job - Verse 18:15 |
Wrongs Beyond Number is based on the harmonic pattern of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah.
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