Beneficial bats get a bad rap.

Byline: Winston Ross The Register-Guard

NEWPORT - Are you as blind as a bat?

Congratulations. You've got better vision than the rest of us.

Contrary to myth, bats are far from blind. Most of them aren't blood-sucking vampires. And none of them are flying mice (though they are the world's only flying mammal - unless, of course, you count airplane pilots).

These are among the enduring bits of hogwash that the Oregon Coast Aquarium hopes to debunk with its latest exhibit: "Bats: Masters of the Night," which opens Saturday and continues until the new year.

The aquarium hopes to educate the public about an oft-misunderstood creature that's having an increasingly difficult time co-existing with humans.

"They are incredibly amazing animals," says Judy Tuttle, curator of mammals at the aquarium. "And they're extremely beneficial to us, considering the bad rap they have with humans."

There are no vampire bats in America, Tuttle says, and only three of the nearly 1,000 species on the planet are bloodthirsty. In fact, all bats in the United States eat only bugs, as opposed to other species that enjoy a ripe piece of fruit.

That's where their importance to humans comes in. "They are a natural insect control," Tuttle says.

In the last two decades, scientists have learned an array of surprising facts about bats, beyond their good eyesight. For one thing, they use a sophisticated radar technique called "echo location" to find dinner. Bats emit a sound and then listen for the precise way it bounces off an object to tell how far, how fast and how big it is. They can even gauge the difference between a mayfly and a mosquito with this technique.

Alas, up to 40 percent of the world's bats are threatened or endangered, thanks to a loss of habitat and increased use of pesticides. As old bridges are replaced and mine shafts are closed, bats lose comfortable roosting sites, and poisoned bugs mean not only fewer bugs but a tainted food supply, which ultimately affects bats as well.

The aquarium's exhibit begins in a Gothic castle setting - flipped upside down to give entrants a bat's-eye view. It features several bronze statues of bat heads, from the sworn-nosed bat to the horseshoe bat.

There are interactive exhibits. One allows visitors to place their heads inside a pair of oversized bat ears to experience the amplified sound; another is a place where people can try their hands at echo location using a laser pointer.

There's also a bat movie theater and, naturally, a selection of bats - a dozen Jamaican fruit bats (Artibus jamaicensis) and two straw-colored fruit bats (Eidolon helvum.) None, however, are among the 15 species that exist in Oregon or the 45 in the United States.

Bug-eaters wouldn't work in an aquarium setting, Tuttle says: "Can you imagine what it would be like trying to catch 10,000 insects for tonight's feed? We'd never get anything else done."

GOING BATTY

The Oregon Coast's Aquarium's new exhibit, "Bats: Master's of the Night" opens Saturday.

Where: Exits to the Newport aquarium are just south of the Yaquina Bay Bridge off Highway 101.

More information: Call [phone] or visit the Web site www .aquarium.org

CAPTION(S):

A straw-colored fruit bat hangs from a branch in the forest canopy of a new exhibit at the Newport aquarium. Oregon Coast Aquarium Visitors check out the bat exhibit at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.