# The Flying Mice are out early... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 30, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589 "2006-07-30T00:02:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/1 "2006-07-30T00:02:49Z")
It’s just dusk, and the bats are already out - flapping around on their eccentric flight paths. Happy hunting, flying mice. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/2 "2006-07-30T20:17:30Z")
\ Bats aren’t flying mice, they are a separate order entirely (Chiroptera vs Rodentia) In addition to wings, bats have completely different teeth than rodents. \ Brian ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/3 "2006-07-30T20:27:15Z")
Wraiths! Wraiths on wings! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/4 "2006-07-30T20:57:54Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Bats aren’t flying mice, Sir, you argue with [Johann Strauss.](http://www.baltimoreopera.com/studyguide/previous_diefledermaus.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/5 "2006-07-30T22:01:59Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > \ > Bats aren’t flying mice, they are a separate order entirely (Chiroptera vs Rodentia) > In addition to wings, bats have completely different teeth than rodents. > \ > > Brian Nonsense. It says right here in _Winston Smith’s Unabridged Guide to Flying Mice and Other Oddities_ that Bats are flying mice; Pigeons are flying rats, and Seagulls are flying Garbage Disposals. Also featured is the “Krunk Beetle”, the “Tree Rat” and “Racoyotes”. It’s right here in print. :: taps large leather-clad volume :: ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/6 "2006-07-31T06:38:52Z")
I know there are bats here (they’re everywhere, man, _everywhere!_) but I’ve never gotten to see any. Maybe they’re really shy. I wish they weren’t though. It would be cool to sit out at night and have them swooping around. I have seen them when camping in Eastern Washington. Well, sort of, with it being so dark and all out there. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/7 "2006-07-31T14:48:45Z")
> [@Marlitharn](#): > > Wraiths! Wraiths on wings! Simply awesome. Wasn’t there a disney movie about a mouse that wanted to be a bat? Had some kind of chant/song: “You’re nothing but a nothing…not a thing at all!” Very traumatic. I like batty bats. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/8 "2006-07-31T15:34:25Z")
The VunderLair is in Bug Central North Carolina. I welcome my new bat overlords… ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/9 "2006-07-31T16:46:56Z")
> [@Tikki](#): > > I know there are bats here (they’re everywhere, man, _everywhere!_) but I’ve never gotten to see any. Maybe they’re really shy. I wish they weren’t though. It would be cool to sit out at night and have them swooping around. > > I have seen them when camping in Eastern Washington. Well, sort of, with it being so dark and all out there. Ha. SmithWife is afraid to go out in the yard now. A couple weeks ago, we were out having a fire, and I pointed up and said “Look! A bat!” She didn’t believe me, at first, but she got a load of the crazy flight pattern and was finally convinced when she said “It’s just a bird” and I replied “Yeah? Where are the rest of the birds, then?” When I posted this thread the other night, she just came to the kitchen door, knocked at me, and waved. I motioned for her to come out but she wouldn’t. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/10 "2006-07-31T17:15:49Z")
> [@Winston Smith](#): > > Ha. SmithWife is afraid to go out in the yard now. Has she begun wearing a scarf? ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Smith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e95f7d/32.png) [@Winston\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Smith)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/11 "2006-07-31T17:34:09Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Has she begun wearing a scarf? …and a necklace of garlic ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/12 "2006-07-31T17:48:28Z")
Think about this _very carefully_ Winston. When she wouldn’t come outside, was it still daylight? ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/13 "2006-07-31T17:52:41Z")
> [@Marlitharn](#): > > Wraiths! Wraiths on wings! BATS: [del]Shiiiiire … Baaaaaggiiiiiins …[/del] _screech_ ---
**Author:** ![Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dazzling_White_Diamonds)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/14 "2006-07-31T20:23:29Z")
Twinkle, twinkle, little bat… How I wonder where you’re at. Up above the world so high Like a teacup in the sky. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/15 "2006-07-31T20:47:37Z")
> [@Tikki](#): > > It would be cool to sit out at night and have them swooping around. Somebody once told me that bats can be attracted by swinging a long broom handle around in the air hard enough to make that low-toned whooshing sound. I have not verified this myself, but as long as you don’t mind risking a stranger seeing you whipping a broom handle back and forth like some delusional bug-hating Jedi Knight, it might be worth a try. ---
**Author:** ![indecisive1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/41988e/32.png) [@indecisive1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/indecisive1)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/16 "2006-07-31T21:13:57Z")
I have a big group of bats living in my attic. They _are_ really cute, much like little mice with wings like to OP states. Every year, in July, a number of them find a way into the house so I have to catch them to put them back outside. Bats do not like being caught. They prove it by showing their pointy little teeth. They don’t look much like mice when they do that. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/17 "2006-07-31T22:24:40Z")
We’ve got [rabid bats](http://www.wtvq.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WTVQ/MGArticle/TVQ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149189618506&path=) if anyone’s interested. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/18 "2006-07-31T22:49:42Z")
> [@indecisive1](#): > > I have a big group of bats living in my attic. Dwyr’s link says they can bite you and you not be aware of it, so be carefull. They are one of the creatures in Arkansas that are considered to be rabies carriers. Now I return you to harassing Winston about his Vampire attracting spouse… ---
**Author:** ![Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dazzling_White_Diamonds)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/19 "2006-08-01T17:43:46Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Somebody once told me that bats can be attracted by swinging a long broom handle around in the air hard enough to make that low-toned whooshing sound. I have not verified this myself, but as long as you don’t mind risking a stranger seeing you whipping a broom handle back and forth like some delusional bug-hating Jedi Knight, it might be worth a try. We toss balled up aluminum foil or socks up into the air while they’re flying about. I’ve had several close encounters of the “bat meets hair” kind when doing this. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589/20 "2006-08-01T22:20:26Z")
“Dusk! With a creepy, tingling sensation, you hear the tingling of leathery wings! BATS! With glowing red eyes and glistening fangs, these unspeakable giant bugs drop onto…” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-flying-mice-are-out-early/366589.md?page=2)