To the Bat Quarters!

Holy scary quarters, Batman! Have you seen the new 25-cent currency flying about the U.S. this spring? I'm not a fan. I'm so not a fan.

I blame the U.S. Mint for resurrecting my nightmares from childhood. Why a bat on a quarter?! Well, apparently it's one of five new quarter designs as part of its America the Beautiful Quarters Program this year. But like most trends, it's just reaching Wisconsin now.

And the bat image for the national park? I guess the National Park of American Samoa is the only park in the United States that is home to the Samoan fruit bat, which apparently is dying due to habitat loss and commercial hunting. Who would hunt them and why? So many questions.

Here's a popular question on Google though: Are the bats that are pictured on the reverse of a U.S. quarter issued in 2020 an indicator that COVID-19 is connected to a government plot?

Well, there was the bat in Wuhan and there is the virus and it is 2020. According to Snopes, though, no, it's not part of a conspiracy.

So why am I batty over this topic? Well I grew up in a house out in the country, where bats were plentiful and people who weren't me appreciated them for eating mosquitoes. Catching the skeeters is all well and good, but why do you need to come in the house afterward and torment the sleeping children?!

Seriously, summer was the worst. We'd hear bats in our bedroom at least every other week, it seemed. I distinctly recall we'd bury our heads under the blankets and scream for Dad and Mom to come save us. Sometimes it took awhile to awaken them in the next room, but one of them or both would open our door with a broom in hand, ready to start swinging. None of us played tennis, so the broom was the best weapon available.

Mom and Dad had a system, though. They'd manage to hit the bat – somehow without ever breaking a lamp or the ceiling light – and stun it. When it fell, they'd scoop it up on a dustpan then dump it in an empty coffee can to suffocate and die. There was no catch and release. Mosquitoes be damned.

Of course, we always knew how active the bats were by the pile of coffee can accumulating by the back steps all summer long. Needless to say, I have wicked flashbacks whenever I see a big red Folgers can. Not even kidding a bit. Must be why I like my Keurig and my little K-cups so much.

I'm not batty. You're batty!