Domesticated bats

Lots of mortals like to keep pets that remind them of themselves. The kalazotz, especially dwarf influenced kalazotz sometimes like to keep pet bats. Kalazotz that live above ground, almost never keep pet bats however.   Even with their natural kinship for bats, kalazotz have not been able to fully domesticate bats. Bats are as much tamed as domesticated. Domesticated bats are temperamentally similar to domesticated cats. Much like humans and cats, bats often come back just for the free food. Also, like with humans and cats, kalazotz appreciate that having bats around can help with pest control. Much like outdoor cats, kalazotz have a lot of outdoor bats that routinely roam around free nearly every night but come back to their kalazotz' "owner" to rest during the day.   Dwarf allied kalazotz cultivate a lot of specific fungi and they don't want insects poaching their mushrooms before the kalazotz can harvest them. Also, the kalzotz can use the bat guano as fertilizer or pass it along to their dwarf allies to help with their above ground farming.   Kalazotz of course produce a lot of their own brand of guano, but it doesn't have the nitrogen or phosphorous content that makes ordinary bat guano so good for plants. Kalazotz are not insectivores, or at least they are not commonly insectivores.     A few humans and dwarves have tried to keep pet bats, but it's never worked. Non zotz humanoids do not have the innate kinship necessary to even vaguely keep pet bats in line.   Camazotz could keep domesticated bats if they wanted to, but camazotz just aren't naturally nurturing enough to bother keeping pets around.   Ordinary bats are skittery. Having a bunch of bats near a kalazotz nest can help act as an alarm system because the bats tend to freak out if an intruder is approaching. Unfortunately, ordinary bats treat camazotz like kalazotz so pet bats cannot serve as an alarm against camazotz, the kalazotz's ancestral enemy.
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Cover image: by sciencemag.org

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