Bats take a bite out of mosquito population

It seems that some people are taking a new look at bats as beneficial predators of insects such as mosquitos. Some are even looking for ways to attract bats as an alternative to pesticides in the battle to reduce the mosquito population and along with it reduce the threat of West Nile Virus. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, 14 species of bats live in Missouri, all of which eat only flying insects. Benefits of bats include much more than merely eating insects, according to Bat Conservation International's Web site, www.batcon.org., desert ecosystems rely on nectar-feeding bats as primary pollinators of giant cacti like the saguaro and organ pipe cactus. Bats pollinate many agricultural plants including bananas, breadfruit, dates, figs, mangoes, cashews and many others. The bats in one cave, in Bracken Cave, Texas, are estimated to eat approximately 200 tons of insects each night. Even vampire bats are not the creatures of evil that movies for generations have portrayed. For one thing, their usual prey are herd animals, not man. They also produce an anticoagulant in their saliva that may soon be used to treat human heart patients, a great benefit to anyone with a heart ailment. More than half of the bat species in America are in decline or already listed as endangered. This trend is international in scope with population declines worldwide. This causes an increase in pesticide use and hurts the plants that depend on them for pollination and spreading their seeds such as the agave plants, used to make tequila, whose seed production drops to 1/3,000th of its normal level without bats to pollinate them. Bats can live to be quite old, compared to other mammals of their size, often living to the age of 20. Despite their longevity, there are factors that keep the bat population down, such as a high rate of infant mortality and the fact that most bats only produce one offspring each year. Bats are nocturnal, which means that they are mostly active at night and sleep during the day. They sleep upside down by hanging onto the tops of caves, trees, or buildings. In the case of bat houses, they hang on plastic netting designed to make it easy to grab onto. During the night, bats search for food, using echolocation to find it, sending out hundreds of high-pitched sounds per second and reading the echoes that return to them. There are many myths circulating about bats, and Lori Sangl, a Nevada woman with a strong interest in the animals, is quick to dispel them. "Bats aren't blind, rarely get rabies, and don't get tangled in your hair, those are just old wives' tales." Fewer than 10 people in more than 50 years have contracted rabies from North American bat species that commonly live in bat houses, according to Bat Conservation International. Like all mammals, bats can contract rabies, though very few do, less than half of one percent. Unlike many other animals, even rabid bats rarely become aggressive. They quickly die from the disease, and outbreaks in their colonies are extremely rare. While the area has its share of bird houses, Sangl thinks the time is right to introduce area residents to the benefits of attracting bats to their property, with bat houses. "People are looking for alternatives to pesticides and bats are great at reducing insect populations. They help to control mosquitoes, which spread diseases like the West Nile Virus, as well as protecting farmer's fields from rootworms." Sangl hasn't been involved with bat houses for long. "I just started. I'd only been involved for a week before my daughter and I took a week-long vacation and I have just been getting going. I have talked to a few Parks and Recreation people from Springfield and Carol Branham right here in Nevada about using them to reduce insects around recreation areas." With all of the positive benefits of having a large, healthy bat population, Sangl is hoping that area residents are ready to hang up their hang ups about bats and contact her for more information.