Discussion»Statements»Rosie's Corner» "Bats for sale in Indonesian market despte Coronavirus warning". Do bats cause it? Ever buy a bat? To eat or pet?
Could be if they have bat caves there. Elsewise otherwise you are conflating your bats. Thank you for your reply E and the photo. Did Babe Ruth use that kind of bat? How about LOU GEHRIG? Who is your favorite at bat batter? PInch hitter? Ever play Little League? if so what position? My son played CATCHER and PITCHER. What position is your favorite vis a vis baseball? Ever hit a home run? America's favorite pastime. The Boys of Summer. Were you ever one? :)
They might carry the disease, but that's not the same as causing it, and then there has to be a way for the virus to be passed on. This latest illness seems to be more contagious that infectious, so poor hygiene in handling the unfortunate creatures would be very helpful to the virus.
As for why the bats are on sale, that's another matter... For food I imagine, though there can't be much meat on one. You can't make pets of them.
In my country, bats are protected by law - it is an offence under the Wildlife & Countryside Act to "sell, hire, exchange or barter a bat whether alive or dead" (which got me thinking, what sort of crazy person would want to hire a dead bat!!?) The reason as I understand it is that whilst some species are very common, others are rare, endangered or vulnerable, and I suppose it is simpler just to give blanket protection to them since non-experts can't be expected to tell them apart anyway. I don't think you can tame them, or teach them to fly around and return to their handler like a falcon - if you wanted your bat to be able to feed but not fly away for good, you would need to keep it on a piece of cord about 500 yards long - and then it most likely get tangled up in it and die anyway. I have never heard of people eating bats except when starving.
Element 99 