Having grown up in the countryside, Hsu is unlike most kids from the city who find bats scaring. Since childhood, Hsu has made friends with Nature. Hsu enjoyed catching animals such as fish and frogs, but he had never been able to catch a bat. Elder family members would have scolded him for rattling bats after his futile attempts, thus arousing more of his curiosity towards this animal.

A biology major at college, Hsu has come into contact with many bat researchers. He bemoans that before people start to research on bats, they have extinguished from their habitats. He also points out that there are nearly 40 different species of bats in Taiwan, accounting for around half of the total number of species among native mammals. However, bats have remained little known locally. It was under such circumstances that Hsu founded the BAT, with a goal to protect bats and keep the relevant research going. His ultimate hope is that people will have the chance to get to know these nocturnal animals that have been kept at bay, and by studying them begin to appreciate them.

However, the preservation of bats has met with several disheartening incidents. This April, BAT researchers found thousands of bats in Meinung Township, Kaohsiung County, killed in a fire at a water channel where bats had resided. In early August when young bats were learning to fly, Hsu led a group of teachers to Keelung for a ¡§bat watch.¡¨ Many truck drivers paid no attention to the sign of ¡§Speed Limit: 25 KM/H¡¨at the entrance of the bat cave. As a result, a large number of young bats barely able to fly were run over by these trucks.

Hsu calls on residents to cooperate in the preservation of bats that actually can be beneficial to our community. Besides feeding on pests such as mosquitoes, bats can be touted as a tourist attraction. A township in the United States, for example, rakes in proceeds worth billions of US dollars a year from bat watching.

Many bat caves have now been empty, because sensitive as bats, just the entering of one man into a cave can scare away tens of thousands of bats. Hsu calls on watchers to stay at the entrance of the caves and refrain from barging into these bat habitats. The changes in the environment have also caused a decline in the number of bats: deforestation and urbanization have made it increasingly difficult for bats to find a habitat.

As a matter of fact, all readers of this epaper can do their bit on bat protection. Individuals can reduce the use of pesticide or weedkiller, and even build ¡§bat houses¡¨ for them. For more detailed information on bat houses, please visit the BAT website at http://www.bats.org.tw/b101.php.