Merlin D. Tuttle

I remember one time as a child playing lawn darts at dusk in my neighbors yard. I lost sight of the dart and then noticed that it seemed to be flying up, only to realize that it was actually a bat. My friend and I ran screaming indoors, not realizing that game we were playing was probably more dangerous than our neighborhood bats. Over time, I grew to admire bats partly for their contributions to a healthy ecosystem, but mostly for being marvelous creatures. In this wonderful memoir, Merlin show more Tuttle, founder of Bat Conservation International, details his lifelong love of the flying mammals and constantly running up against the fear and hatred of bats in his fellow humans. As a child, Tuttle crawled through local caves to tag migrating bats, his descriptions giving me vicarious claustrophobia. All through the book Tuttle extols the virtues of bats, from consuming tons of pestilent insects to spreading the seeds of plants, and even affecting the mating rituals of frogs. In addition to traveling the world to study bads, Tuttle taught himself how to photograph the animals, inventing tricks of the trade that would create compelling photographs published in National Geographic, or elsewhere. If you love bats, you'll love this book, and if you fear bats, well this book may change your mind. show less

I grabbed this book after hearing a great interview with the author on "To the Best of Our Knowledge." Bat conservationist and photographer Merlin Tuttle writes here about his longtime fascination with studying and documenting bat behavior, and his efforts to protect and demystify the animals. While some of the anecdotes get a bit repetitive here, Tuttle's stories are mostly quite worth the retelling, and his efforts on behalf of bats around the world are to be greatly commended. I would show more have liked a bit more than what's here on how populations have been affected by the "white-nose syndrome" of recent years, but no real matter. Well illustrated with Tuttle's own photographs, quite funny at times, and thoroughly intriguing. show less

I may be weird, but I've always thought bats were kinda cute. Not "ooh, I want one" cute, but they have big round eyes and soft fur and they squeak. So this is a good book for seeing the various bats that live in America (we definitely have them in Phoenix), finding out how they live and dispelling myths that make people so terrified of them. There are even instructions for how to build a "bat house" to draw them. The author is an authority and a founder of a bat conservation foundation, so show more the information is pretty thorough and interesting. If you aren't freaked out by bats. show less

The Bat House Guide
By Merlin Tuttle

When I think of bats, I don't go screaming in fear because I adore the little things! I just love them! So I have read Mr Tuttle's books and consider him the real Batman! This book has several species of bats listed, along with their photos, and where they normally live. Also what size bat house they normally like. This book is for all of us nuts out there that love nature and/or want crops to grow better without pests.

This gives the reader helpful hints show more to set up a Bat House. Depending on where you live, on what kind of bats are in your area, and the climate. So many questions are answered for me. Also there are a variety of different bat house designs to make for the winter to set up before the little fuzz balls come back in spring.

This is perfect to get the next generation interested in conservation! A perfect family activity!

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this terrific book! show less