Happy Birthday, Diane Ackerman!

Poet and nature writer Diane Ackerman (born October 7, 1948) talks about a her book ‘The Moon By Whale Light’ which includes a chapter called In Praise of Bats. She finds bats to be sweet, adorable, and even ravishing creatures who are maligned in popular culture. She describes why bats are so important to the cultivation of cloves and avocados along with the creation of tequila; what it’s like to be in a bat cave and under the bat bridge in Austin; why bats always look demonic in pictures; what it’s like to put a bat in your hair. Oh, and she also explains how to sex an alligator.