You are all singing it now. I can hear you. DUH-NUH-NUH-NUH-NUH-NUH-NUH-NUH, BATMAN! Holy ear worm. Yeah, I went there. But how can one help it? In honor of Batman’s 80th anniversary, DC and Warner Brothers are planning on releasing 1.5 million (1,500,000) bats at the South By SouthWest Festival, know as SXSW. Did Mayor Daniel Danforth Dickerson III approve this plan?

From ScreenRant here is the first paragraph:

DC and Warner Bros. will release 1.5 million bats at this year’s SXSW to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Batman. Batman, created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in 1939 as “The Bat-Man,” which eventually got shortened to Batman. The superhero is the alter-ego of Bruce Wayne, who, as a boy, witnessed the murder of his parents. That incident left an indelible mark on the wealthy boy, leaving him to swear to fight crime in his city of Gotham. He eventually took on the persona of Batman.

and…

The year 2019 marks the 80th anniversary of Batman and DC and Warner Bros. have some big plans to celebrate. The official anniversary kick-off begins at SXSW in Austin, Texas, which takes place March 8-17. The event will feature exclusive merchandise and the unveiling of a new mural in the city at 807 E 4th St., on Friday, March 15 at 5 p.m. Also on March 15, DC and Warner Bros. will release 1.5 million bats to fly over the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge at 7:30 p.m. Online, fans can help celebrate by using the hashtag #LongLiveTheBat. Later this month, WonderCon will honor Batman with a birthday panel.

Nothing can go wrong with that. But, just in case, someone better tell Commissioner Gordon and Sergeant O’Hara to have extra patrol cars on hand. Holy straitjacket, Batman. Running and screaming people, terrified by the bats may need transportation to Arkham Asylum. SXSW takes place in Austin, Texas where the official city motto is “Keep Austin Weird”. Is there anything weirder than releasing 1.5 million bats at this liberal lovefest?

Although bats transmit rabies, bats mostly do good things:

Some bat species eat insects and consume up to their weight in food each night. A colony of bats can eat literally tons of insects every night. Bats also consume insects that damage crops. Research has shown that free-tailed bats in South Central Texas may save farmers up to $1.7 million a year by consuming significant numbers of agricultural pests. Other bats feed on nectar and are important pollinators, especially in rainforests. Some bats feed on fruits and disperse the seeds. More than 300 species of fruits depend on bats for pollination or seed dispersal; fruits pollinated by bats include avocadoes, bananas, carob, figs, mangoes, and peaches. Bats serve as food for owls, hawks, falcons, opossums, and raccoons.
Bat waste, which is called guano, can be used as fertilizer.

Bats are very environmentally friendly, except for the rabies and scary parts. Since bats have that whole echolocation thing, they really don’t fly into your hair and unless there is a swarm of mosquitoes near you, they avoid people, so I have read. That doesn’t stops me from seeing a scene from Hitchcock’s “The Birds” in my head. I know. I know. Bats are not birds; they are mammals. That doesn’t stop my internal fantasy world from conjuring up scenes like this:

Hey, it could happen.

The average temperatures during March in Austin, Texas range from 51 to 73 degrees. I hope the principals behind SXSW haven’t invited former Vice President Al Gore. You know what happens everywhere Algore shows up. The man is a regular Mr. Freeze. Can you just see frozen dead bats falling from the skies? Holy riots, Batman!

Just a couple more little things for you to ponder. How did these publicity geniuses come up with the number 1.5 million and where does one acquire 1.5 million bats? Asking for a friend.

Photo Credit: United States Fish & Wildlife Service/Public Domain