The AT&T Center in San Antonio plays hosts to both the NBA’s Spurs and, apparently, a longstanding colony of bats. Bat sightings at the arena date back to at least 2009, when Manu Ginobili famously swatted a bat out of mid-air in a game on Halloween.
But the Bats are only getting bolder, and after interrupting the Spurs’ game against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, the flying mammals returned to the court during the Spurs’ matchup with the Pelicans on Sunday. But this time around, Spurs mascot The Coyote came prepared, triumphing over his species’ reputation for hare-brained and unsuccessful traps by snaring a bat with a net:
The Coyote, which dressed as Batman for the occasion, went 1-for-2 on bat-catching attempts in the video above. That is, as far as this author is concerned, an enormous success rate.
Back in 2009, Ginobili learned why handling bats bare-handed is a bad idea: Bats are among the most common carriers of rabies, and Ginobili needed to get rabies shots after the contact. But The Coyote’s coyote hands allowed it to safely corral the bat in a towel and hand it off to arena staff.
Texas’ bats haven’t known such a worthy enemy since David Price in the ALCS. That bat got in the net more effectively than the Pelicans did Sunday, heyo. More like DeMar DeRacula, amirite?
