Bats Perish, and no one knows why

I know most people are scared of them
in-fact looking at them up close I can see
why some people would be afraid.
I on the other hand, have a fondness
for them. When I was in my early twenties
and living in England I decided to spend
a summer month in Cornwall ( the english
riviera) but it was to be the kind of summer
that only a student with very little
money could experience. I often
think to myself thank goodness I did not have an abundance of
money on many of my travels.., many of the most
amazing adventures and experiences only took place due to the
lack of funds......

I did not have very much money
so I would spend the night sleeping on the beach and because the sun
rose before I did, I would sleep with the top part of my body in a cave-
Yes- a cavern that housed bats.( FYI: in England specially area's
by the sea the're is public shower buildings scattered everywhere)
In the evening I would watch the bats come out and this is what
i imagined their world to be; they were like children who were not able
to come out iduring the day, forced to stay in the darkest of places
while all the other creatures moved about in daylight. When night fell
the bats would fly out, just like children would come rushing out of school
at recess to play. I think the fact that they are so tiny
remind me of children playing. They would dive, hover, even dance and
make the sweetest sounds in the night time sky and yes they would come close very close
...but they got used to me and sometimes I almost believed they were including me in their games.

So when I read in todays New York Times article that an unknown disease has caused the death of five hundred thousand bats ...i was heartbroken.