Bat in the box
Six-year-old Jaqi Clapper looks up into the Hamburger Helper box that conceals "Luna," the little brown bat that her mother, Angie Karr, rescued after a cold, driving rain pelted McCook in November 2015. The very young bat, named "Luna" after the character in the children's book, "Stellaluna," warmed up on hand warmer packets and ate chicken baby food, and then spent the winter at a bat rehabilitation sanctuary in Denver. Angie and Jaqi released the bat back in McCook recently, in the same area in which Angie found her, with the hope that she will find her original colony. Luna's box was empty the morning after Angie hung it on an alley light pole. Angie said that her adventure with Luna has taught her the value of bats -- "They're better than pesticides. One bat will eat 1,000 mosquitoes an hour." -- and that less than half percent of all bat species carries rabies. "They're cool little beings," she said.