10/08/2012
Dr. & Mrs. Warner Karshner set sail from Los Angeles on June 28, 1934 for a cruise of the South Seas. Their journey brought many colorful and interesting artifacts to their Puyallup museum. One of my favorites is a "flying fox" or Tongan fruit bat. The doctor had an interest in these creatures and found a tree filled with the bats hanging "head down". I'll let him tell the story: "By night, they forage over the island in search of fruit. Just why they have lost their insectivorous habit I do not know; perhaps the fruit tastes better, or it is larger and more easily secured. At any rate, I became interested in their altered appetite and decided to go under some well-laden tree and study this peculiar animal from the ground. It did not take long to convince me that I was 'attacking the problem from the wrong end,' as an umbrella or slicker was necessary to remain long under that tree. I quickly gathered a handful of stones and threw them through the densely populated branches. Out came the bats, like a swarm of bees after the hive has been upset. Everyone became interested in the flying monsters (great bats with a wing-span of nearly three feet) and two lads from the ship later brought me a fine specimen which I had unwittingly rendered 'hors de combat' by the stones. Now, these bats are sacred - 'tabu'- and seldom molested on the island because of some fancied charm. Nevertheless, I carefully tucked away my prize specimen and it is safely embalmed and will soon repose in our museum." Repose it does in our Cabinet of Curiosities...
