Barbara Ogaard blames Dracula. She blames Hollywood. She blames superstition.
"Blind as a bat, bat out of hell, I call them old husband’s tales. They’re terrible," the Bothell woman said.
Even before meeting her, I saw signs of Ogaard’s zeal for winged mammals. A black Ford Explorer in her driveway has BAT LADY license plates. A bat-shaped welcome mat decorates the porch.
When she opened the door, Ogaard, 62, was wearing a black T-shirt with bat designs on it.
So, pardon the slang, are there bats in her belfry? Not at all. And her interest in bats is piqued all year, not just at Halloween.
With a degree in zoology from the University of Washington, Ogaard volunteers with the nonprofit Sarvey Wildlife Center in Arlington to rehabilitate bats. While she keeps them at home, in a bat shed in her yard or in containers inside her house, her goal is to return them to the wild.
"Wild animals don’t make pets. Wild animals should be free," she said.
Some can’t be released. There’s "Lefty," who lost a wing to a lawn mower in Tacoma. Lefty is a hoary bat, the largest type in Washington state. Ogaard is also caring for big brown bats and several silver-haired bats, a migratory species.
"They’re all in Mexico now enjoying the sun," she said, explaining that some young bats were left behind.
Ogaard, who has worked as a naturalist on Jetty Island in Everett and as a beach ranger in Edmonds, shares her knowledge through classroom presentations. On Thursday, she loaded up her Ford batmobile for a program at Monroe Montessori School. Proceeds from her talks are donated to the Sarvey center.
"Meeting a bat close-up is very valuable," Ogaard said as she used tongs to feed live mealworms to a ferociously hungry bat.
"Their life is catching night-flying insects, and I’m asking them to eat mealworms from a dish. They eat 10 at a sitting," she said.
Ogaard has been interested in animals since childhood. Born on Martha’s Vineyard, she was raised in a commercial fishing family near New Bedford, Mass. As a girl, she’d stick up for spiders her brother wanted to squish. She moved here with her husband, a tugboat captain, in 1970.
In classrooms, she counters the nocturnal hunters’ spooky image. The blood-thirsty reputation comes by way of more than 100 movies based on the legend of Count Dracula.
Bats are good neighbors, Ogaard says.
"They love moths and beetles, serious agricultural pests," she said. Some species consume up to 1,000 mosquitoes an hour, and their high-frequency echolocation can scare insects away.
Bats in the Northwest are all insectivores. In hotter areas, fruit bats help pollinate and disperse seeds for fig, date and banana crops. Bats pollinate flowers of the agave plant, from which tequila is made. The storied vampires, which feed on blood, are found in the tropics.
"Studying about mammals, I found out how unique bats are," she said. "They breed in September, then the females hold the sperm viable through hibernation. When they wake up, they ovulate after a big meal and are pregnant. Dads have nothing to do with the pups’ upbringing."
Ogaard knows everything about bats, including the answer to a Herald mystery.
A few weeks ago, an e-mail went out to Herald staff members. A silver-haired bat had attached itself to railroad ties used in landscaping on Herald property. We weren’t supposed to touch it. Later, another e-mail told us the bat had been rescued.
"Your bat is doing wonderfully; it’s at Meg’s house in Stanwood," Ogaard said.
"Meg’s house" is the home of Meg Lunnum, another bat rehab volunteer with Sarvey Wildlife Center.
The Herald bat was hanging from a sweat shirt sleeve inside a reptile container Wednesday, but there are plans for it to spend the winter in Ogaard’s shed.
Lunnum calls Ogaard her mentor. The two have traveled together to Bat World, a rescue sanctuary in north-central Texas. (For information, go to www.batworld.org.)
Bat World board officer Amanda Lollar gets a few minutes of Halloween fame tonight in an appearance on "The Late Show With David Letterman."
It’s not scary like Dracula, but Ogaard hopes viewers bite on the truth about bats.
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.
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