BAAN TOOM, THAILAND - As movie fans the world over rave about the new Batman film, the only stir bats cause in this poor farming village is in a cooking pot.

They've been scarfing bats down in Baan Toom for as long as anyone can remember, roasting the little beasts on spits over charcoal fires or mincing them up into a traditional Thai dish.

The farmers say the meat is delicious and, with a big smile, say it also gives them sexual powers.

While their hamlet appears idyllic, it sits in the northeastern province of Kalasin, the poorest region in Thailand, where local officials say incomes average barely $70 a month. The lack of money means few comforts, and the work in the paddies is backbreaking and hot.

But there are compensations, the villagers say: abundant free food. When the farmers fancy something different for dinner, they leave their rice seedlings, wade out of the bath-warm paddies, grab a net and long poles, and go bat hunting.

The quarry, the kangkhao noo, or mouse bat, is a creature of habit, and it takes just a few minutes to reach its regular hangout -- the sugar-palm trees that shade the dikes above the water-logged landscape.

The farmers crash poles into the trees, and bats tumble into the waiting net in a cascade of broken foliage and flapping wings.

"They do wonders for your libido, and they give you stamina," Kamgong Phunasee, 66, says.

The creatures are plunged into boiling water. Once dead, they are plucked of their fur and roasted on glowing charcoal, wings, guts and all. The chopped-up meat is mixed with fresh herbs, a little sugar and spicy paste, and then fried.

"Bat meat -- it's so tender and sweet," Kamsee Phuphala, 57, says between mouthfuls. "You can eat the whole thing."

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