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Article: The joys of bat guano.
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- July 8, 1989
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1989 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The joys of bat guano
HOUSE-hunting can be a tricky business, but at least modern man can take advantage of structural surveys and the like. His distant forebears had to rely on observation and a fair measure of intuition. Bats may have helped them.
Suppose you are a cave dweller, looking for something a little larger in a better area. Your house-hunting has come up trumps: the place you have found sports a sizeable colony of bats. The bats tell you it must be warm and dry inside. From the depth of droppings on the cave floor you know they have been there for a long time, so you are unlikely to be disturbed.
It is a safe home--but there is a ...