Aerobatic Hunt

I was returning a movie tonight at your friendly local video rental store, and on my way back to my car, I noticed some action in the dark not far above me. The flurry I thought I had seen out of the corner...or top...of my eye was revealed to be a disappointingly simple flight of a moth, but on further observation, I realized it was less simple than initial impressions. It seemed a little frantic, changing directions often and moving up and down sporadically. It was one agitated little moth. Shortly after I began watching this moth with some curiosity, the reason for its anxiety became clear. Out of the dark, into the pale light of a nearby parking lamp post, darted a swiftly maneuvering bat. And then another.

Suddenly, this silent, peaceful night in a dingy parking lot became an intense battle for life for this solitary moth, and I was fascinated and found myself sympathetic to the bats' need for food but rooting for the little moth all the same. I began coaching it. "No! Not up! Come back down! Lower! Make them have to dive. Come closer to the light!"

But I wasn't much of a cheerleader: "You know, you don't stand much of a chance against two bats, little buddy. I'm sorry to inform you of this." I watched in tense anticipation to see which of the sharp-maneuvering bats would snatch the moth out of the air.

Then I think the moth had a stroke of genius, a revelation. It stopped haphazardly turning this way and that to escape its predators and instead changed its course and made a direct flight right into the lamp and then up underneath the lamp's canopy. It stayed at the light.

While the moth was now more visible, echolocation is no use with a canopy in the way, and the bats weren't about to leave the cover of darkness to flop around a hot lamp in search of food.

Yay for the little moth. Bad for the other insects which will now be eaten instead of the beefy moth, but good for the moth. I got in my car and drove away feeling, vaguely, like I'd witnessed something.