Rather than being fearful, humans should embrace our beneficial-winged neighbors.
The Sunshine State harbors 13 species of what might be man’s best friend—or at least the second best: bats, all of them hungry insectivores in a state now home to 80 of the world’s 3,600 species of mosquito. That family of small flies is widely responsible for misery among humans.
Bats, on the other hand, are not responsible for misery among humans and remain indispensable friends wherever humans exist, because they’ll suck in mosquitos and other insects like a vacuum sucks up dust.
Some bats are also good pollinators and soil enhancers, depending on whether they’re feeding on the fruit of some plants or expelling it in nutrient-rich waste. Unfortunately, the friendship Bats offer has not been widely returned. Humans are not necessarily bat friends (although some are described as bat crazy), either because of oblivious urban or suburban development that fails to protect the environments some bats require (but they can also live in cities if there are appropriate trees and food), or because of misguided information and perhaps fear.
Bats are nothing to be afraid of, say the experts. Instead, they should be encouraged and supported. “They’re our wild neighbors, they’re part of our communities, some keep insect populations in check”—and that right there is enough, says Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director and senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, a national nonprofit based in St. Petersburg.
Bats are beautiful and extraordinarily talented, both as mothers raising pups and as fliers. After pregnancies lasting from about two to seven months, a bat can give birth to one or sometimes two pups at a time. One species can have litters of as many as four. After their birth, mothers nurse and care closely for the young.
When they fly, there’s magic in the air—in this case, a magic called echolocation, says Bennett. “Bats are not blind,” announced the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. But they don’t see well, except by echo-communication. “They send out a sound that bounces off objects and comes back so they can sense exactly what’s in front of them, even distinguishing between different (sometimes very small) objects,” Bennett explains. Bats are so effective at aerial maneuvers that a single colony of the Florida bonneted bat can consume as many as 21 pounds of insects in a night. They favor mosquitos, other fly species, and beetles. Colonies can range from a few dozen to many hundreds.
All of Florida’s bats are protected, and a state law even prohibits homeowners or anyone who encounters a bat colony on their private property from moving or disturbing bats during their maternity seasons. The official dates in Florida span the period between April 15 and Aug. 15 when females give birth to their pups. The critically endangered and only bat endemic to Florida, bonneted bats can be seen in both the southwest and southeast parts of the state and nowhere else on the planet. They have at least one environmental trait that has put them at even greater risk than other species: they nest in pine trees, but only certain trees are located near saltwater. Rising sea levels represent an acute danger to the bats because their favorite nesting sites tend to be near the waterline in trees whose roots can’t tolerate salt.
Maxx Chadwick, the animal care director at the Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium in Fort Myers said they do not have any mammals as the center doesn’t have the habitats or the funds needed to build them. “But we absolutely would love to get some in the future,” Chadwick said. “What we do have, though, throughout the property are bat boxes. Bat boxes are essentially like birdhouses but for bats. They provide local bats with a place to live, roost, and raise young. This is a win-win because it helps ensure we have bats around our property to do what bats do best.”
Chadwick believes the bats that occupy the homes on the Nature Center’s property are Brazilian free- tailed bats and evening bats and are fortunately all insectivores. “This is where the importance of bats can come into play for us,” he said. “Bats can eat hundreds of insects every single night. That amount certainly adds up in weight. They are excellent at hunting bugs such as mosquitos, ants, moths, grasshoppers, and more.
“There are lots of common myths about bats—they drink blood, they are just rats with wings, they are all blind, they will get caught in your hair, they all carry rabies, etc.,” Chadwick continued. “Bats are rather harmless to us (but very beneficial). Now, they can carry rabies-like many other animals in the wild are able, but that doesn’t mean that each bat does. And if they do, you are very unlikely even to know it because we don’t really encounter bats often. If you encounter a bat showing signs of rabies, use common sense as you would with any other animal showing signs, keep your distance, and do not interact with them to prevent the possibility of infection.”
What can be done to help bats? Plant native species in your yards. Planting native plants encourages native biodiversity. This can bring in the insects that bats will eat. Bats also may find nice places to roost in any native trees you have in your yard. “We can also be wary of using pesticides,” Chadwick said. “Similar to how birds of prey can get sick and die from eating small mammals that have consumed rat poison, bats can get sick and die from eating insects contaminated with pesticides.”
