Bats are disappearing every day. Not only are individual bats killed and injured, but 40% of all bat species are endangered or threatened! That's pretty scary when you consider how important bats are for people and for the environment. Bats eat millions of pounds of insect pests yearly, pollinate flowers, and even disperse seeds that help the rainforests grow.

You'd think that with all the benefits we derive from bats that people would have learned to appreciate them. Sadly, the fact is people still believe destructive myths about bats-like all bats have rabies, bats are blind, bats will fly into your hair, and bats will attack people. These myths-all false-contribute to millions of bat deaths each year.

As the Executive Director of the Organization for Bat Conservation I unfortunately see a lot of maltreatment of bats because of ignorance. So many people go out of their way to kill bats and destroy bat habitat simply because they don't know the facts. The Organization for Bat Conservation is the leader in bat conservation education. Through educational means--not by fighting or arguing, but by teaching--we have shown over five million people that bats are important. But the task is enormous! Because too many people still believe old wife's tales, we need to reach out and show them how important--and even cute--bats are!

Here are some battles we have fought and won:

* An OBC staff member met a woman at a program last year that had a colony of bats living under her eaves. She assumed all bats were rabid and decided she must get rid of the bats. She did so by using a can of hair spray and a lighter. The woman was so proud of the fact that she burned up to 10 bats that she feared were all rabid. Our staff member quietly listened to the story, then told her that statistically only one half of one percent of bats have rabies. These bats probably just needed a home and would have even eaten tons of insects in the woman's backyard each night. The woman felt terrible that she did this and changed her mind about bats.

* We were called out to a farm one evening when a hysterical wife told us her husband was running around his barn shooting the bats. When we got to the farm, we found out the gentleman thought they were fruit bats and would damage his crops because he saw them flying near his trees. It took us less than 10 minutes to explain to him these were insect-eating bats that would actually be a benefit to his crops.

* Three years ago many of our members sent us a newspaper clipping that boasted the headlines "Bats Turn Woman's Home Into Dracula's Castle". The article went on to explain that a woman had a colony of bats that lived in her attic. As they emerged each night, she would stand in front of them with a tennis racket killing as many as she could. We packed up our educational material, a few live bats to show her, contacted the paper that wrote the article and were on our way. The woman listened hesitantly as we told her the benefits of bats, how we could remove the bats without injuring them, and why the bats should be saved. The clincher came when the woman and the newspaper got to meet some of our ambassadors. They never imagined bats were so endearing. Before we left the woman bought a bat house for her backyard and joined OBC. The next day the paper ran an article claiming "Bats Get Bad Rap-They are Actually Good Guys!".

* One of OBC's Educational Specialists writes this: In the four short months that I have been at OBC, I have seen lots of surprising things happen. As an educational specialist, I am amazed at how a person can change their whole attitude about bats in one hour's time. One of my favorite scenarios usually happens during a "Basically Bats" program. A mother reluctantly brings her child to the library, sits him or her in front and then races to get a seat as far back as possible. When I mention that we will meet some live bats, she scrunches up her face in distress. By the end of the program the woman is right up front so she can get an extra "peek" at those wonderful bats and is excited about getting a bat house so she can have some bats in her very own back yard. It's nice to see that all of the hard work that OBC does to raise awareness about bat conservation really pays off.

These stories are why we are asking you to join OBC. Although there is a frightening and dangerous amount of ignorance out there, people CAN learn to appreciate bats. You can help stamp out ignorance about bats. Once people learn truths like:

* Few bats have rabies,

* Bats don't fly into people's hair,

* One bat can eat up to it's full body weight in insects nightly,,

Most people then begin to enjoy seeing them flitter through the night sky. Your tax-deductible contribution will help us:

* Reach over 100,000 thousand people in the year 2000 with educational programs about bats throughout the United States.

* Expand our telephone help line from only 3 days a week to 7 days a week for people who find injured or orphaned bats or have bats flying around in there homes and do not know what to do.

* Educate homeowners about what to do if a bat is in their house and how to perform a proper exclusion without killing the bats.

* Press for strong legislation to make all bats protected.

* Teach people about the harmful effects of pesticide spraying on bats and the benefits of bats and bat houses.

* Develop and initiate more research projects next year working with endangered bat species both nationwide and abroad.

We work to protect bats everywhere, form Michigan to California to other countries, but we can only continue this work with the help of people like you! When you become an OBC member you join an organization 100% dedicated to saving bats. As a member you will receive:

* Five issues of our quarterly newsletter The Bat Conservation Journal with interesting facts on bats, the latest research, bat house information, plus additional information that you can use to continue bat conservation (this is a must have publication for any bat conservationist interested in what is new and upcoming in the field!).

* Discounts on OBC merchandise including bat houses, videos like our award-winning "Bats--The True Story", books like "Understanding Bats" written by myself and co-founder Rob Mies, and new items like the "Stokes Beginners Guide to Bats."

* Information sheets on bats in general and specifically about the bats in your state.

* Invitations to our special "Members Only" events and free tours through OBC's facility.

The most important benefit of the membership is the satisfaction you get from helping bats. Please make a commitment to help one of the world's most misunderstood animals. Please join the Organization for Bat Conservation today, you can be one of those rare people whose concern for animals goes beyond emotion into action!

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Kim Williams
Executive Director