A bat walks into a bar and orders two shots of the tequila. He’s had a tiring flight. “Funny. This tastes familiar,” he tells the bartender. Chiropterologist and bat researcher Rajkumar Patel tells us this winged visitor from the story we cooked up could be the Mexican Long-nosed bat, a primary pollinator of the blue agave plant, the base ingredient in tequila. This weekend, the bat and the bartender will meet once again at a one-hour lecture by Patel at a Bat Week (October 24 to 31) special lecture.

Agave tequiliana. PICS COURTESY/WIKIMEDIA; RAJKUMAR PATEL