Wander through the Halloween department of any store and you’ll find representations of bats, spiders, owls, scarecrows – animals and objects so associated with the season that you might find it odd to realize how seasonally out-of-place the decorations really are.
Bat Myths
Bats were once considered the souls of sleeping individuals because bats were seen at night, but not during the day. Also, because some species dwell in caves, the creatures were also connected to the Underworld and its mythologies about death.
Bats that live in cold environments, however, migrate or hibernate. Migrating bats are looking for the insects, fruits, or nectars found where temperatures are balmier. Hibernating bats, unable to find a source of food or unable to store up enough energy to risk the perils of migration, sleep through a good portion of the fall straight into the spring when their preferred food is available.
While people may dangle a bat or two (or ten) about their home, the only way a person is likely to see a bat in flight at the end of October is if one is roused from its winter hibernation spot by accident. (And then it might not have enough fat stored in its body to survive the entire winter.)
Owl Myths
Like bats, most owls move around at night and their calls likely frightened people who couldn’t see the animal and thought the sounds belonged to demons or lost souls. For people who did see owls, the almost instantaneous twist of the animal’s head and its glittery, staring eyes probably added to its spooky reputation. However, some cultures see owls as positive omens.
Spiders at Halloween
Depending on where a person lives, they might not see a lot of spiders around Halloween. In fact, in movie-perfect Halloween settings – places with chilly temperatures, frost, and colorful fallen leaves – most spiders have laid eggs and then died.
In fall and winter, spiders might be found lurking in dark corners of the house or the basement. For a female spider getting ready to lay eggs, she’d need to catch enough food so she would have the energy necessary for laying eggs. Then, she’d need someplace to tie up those eggs. For spider that makes webs, all this extra work would leave quite a few cobwebs around. The house with under-active spiders can purchase cottony cobwebs at the store.
Scarecrows
People decorate lamp posts and their front porches with dried cornstalks and scarecrows. While the dried cornstalks signal the end of the corn harvest, the scarecrow plays a bigger part in the cornfield during the spring. A key purpose of the scarecrow is to frighten away the birds during the springtime when the seeds have just been planted or are beginning to sprout.
In different cultures at some points in history, people hid in fields to act as bird scarers throughout the growing season. After the harvest, scarecrows don’t really have a purpose. However, even in the past, people made elaborate scarecrows that they showed off in contests.
So why are so many creatures associated with Halloween if they don’t have a nature-based connection to the season? It is probably because these animals move around at night. Back before electric lights, people didn’t venture far at night. Imagine all the odd and frightening sounds animals make.
For people who never saw nocturnal animals, the screeching call of the barn owl would send shivers running up and down the spine. Cobwebs covering winter provisions would add some tactile creepiness to a dark cellar. Nowadays, decorating for Halloween means that people can bring together all sorts of things that creep, flit, or sweep through people’s imaginations.
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