Blame it on the nip of fall in the air or Mercury drifting into retrograde, but this has been a week for Salt Lake Tribune
goofs and the phenomenon in which seemingly innocuous stories stir the hearts and minds of some readers otherwise
never heard from.
Case in Point: Hilary G. Smith’s article on the Provo apartment complex infested with bats drew comments from two
individuals who could have been communicating from their own Batcaves.
The article “did a good job of enforcing the fears and ignorance people have about bats. . . . A reporter should do some
more research on their subject. Unfortunately bats are facing a uphill battle in today’s world of habitat destruction and
outright killing by misinformed people. They are actually very beneficial in all parts of the world from dispersing seeds
essential to reproduction of many plant species to consumption of insects harmful to crops as well as people, even the
vampire bat (the most famous portrayal of the world’s only flying mammal) has benefits. The anticoagulant from its saliva
is being researched to be used in treating human heart patients,” wrote a person whose e-mail address is “fiestabats.”
Engrossed in the subject, the reader goes on ” . . . but my point is that while the article is tantalizing copy for some
readers, it can inadvertently be harmful to innocent creatures that are highly beneficial to us. It would be great if
theTribune would do a high profile story or maybe even a series of articles on bats that show all their attributes and dispel
myths that a large portion of the population has about bats.”
A series. Hmmmm. Don’t hang upside down holding your breath too long.
An even more academic take on bats came from another reader’s e-mail:
“As traditional roosts in trees and caves have been destroyed, many of North America’s bats have been forced to seek
shelter in man-made structures. An understanding of the habits of these beneficial animals can help solve problems that
sometimes develop when bats roost in buildings.
“Your readers should contact Bat Conservation International (BCI) (www.batcon.org) for details on safe, effective
methods for permanently evicting bats from buildings when necessary. These methods, which can include provided
alternative habitat (bat houses), help ensure the safety of both humans and bats.”
The writer then goes on in detail about bats — including their happy proclivity for consuming insects that annoy
humans.
While I am sympathetic to the plight of bats, I am also sympathetic to the people living in the apartment complex. Just
as they do not wish to have up-close and personal relationships with bats, I also would like to keep at least several
good-sized athletic fields of distance between me and the creatures.
Hyper Hummingbirds: Several readers were troubled about Smith’s article on hummingbirds which contained, among
other information, a recipe for hummingbird nectar.
It is obvious that the Tribune editors who read this piece have never tried to dissolve sugar in boiling water. If they had,
they would have known it is scientifically impossible to dissolve 4 cups of sugar into 1 cup of boiling water without
creating some sort of caramelized concoction. The correct recipe for the nectar is 4 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar.
Also troubling to some readers was the article’s assertion that hummingbirds consume about 155,000 calories a day.
Now, realizing that most Americans consume 2,000 to 2,500 calories per day, minimum, such consumption by a
hummingbird would be the equivalent of what about 70 people are eating every day. Those hummingbirds would be the
size of a yeti and would be carrying off teenage children from soccer fields.
The comparison should be thus: If hummingbirds were human size, their consumption of calories would be the
equivalent of 155,000 human calories per day.
This means hummingbirds have exceedingly rapid metabolisms as well as stunning wing speed.
Anglers, Listen Up: For those readers having trouble finding “The Hook,” Skip Knowles’ column on fishing, it now
appears on Wednesday in the Sports section of The Tribune.
Although predicting space availability in sections of the newspaper is risky, Sports Editors Jim Halley and Mike
Gottschamer say they will try to put the fishing column on Page 2 of the section.
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The Reader Advocate’s phone number is 801-257-8782. Write to the Reader Advocate, The Salt Lake Tribune, P.O.
Box 867, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110. reader.advocate@sltrib.com
