Bats have always been spooky and thought to be harbingers of evil to humans. Just outside the Staff Study-2, in the dark corridor, in our senior school building, there are 5-6 bats roosting during the day. Their droppings on the floor below their roost area gives away their location.
These are Schneider's Leaf-nose bats (Hipposideros speoris), a species endemic to India, according Dr T. Ganesh, Ecologist at ATREE, Bangalore. Dr Ganesh and his team have been surveying temples in the southern Tamilnadu for their bat fauna and he has been seeing declines in their numbers. He feels rather than discouraging the bats, Rishi Valley School should take pride in supporting bats in their campus. He feels we could remove their excreta which makes an excellent manure regularly and use in our gardens.
Dr Santharam
Photo: V. Santharam