NEW SCOTLAND — A bobcat attack is being described as an out-of-the-ordinary event. The rabid animal attacked a couple and a dog last Wednesday.

A deadly disease caused by a virus that attacks the brain and spinal cord, rabies came to America in the 1700s when European settlers brought their dogs.

A common saw on the worth of bats is human-centric: They eat bugs.

A bat, in a single night, will eat half of its weight in insects — not just the mosquitoes that plague us but all manner of night flyers, like moths and beetles.

My lifelong fear of bats was eased by insights gained from well-versed experts — an antidote as sure as the shots I'm now getting to prevent rabies.