One winged creature that still inspires fear in humans is the bat. The Australian aborigines told of a race of humanoid creatures with batlike wings, the Keen Keeng people. A family of brothers became lost and wandered into the valley of the Keen Keeng, who took them prisoner. The brothers were able to avoid being thrown into a fiery pit and eventually escaped. The strange dances they had seen the bat men perform are still used in rituals today.

In Eastern Europe bats are strongly associated with vampires, spirits of the undead who rise at night to do harm to the living. Vampires were able to transcend gravity by taking the form of bats. These "children of the night" still provoke more fear than admiration of their sonar skills. If bats could transform themselves into the shape of fairies, those sweet-faced creatures with gossamer wings, perhaps we would think of them more kindly.

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Last modified: Tue Jul 1 15:45:48 PDT 1997

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