Bat Week 2019 will be October 24 thru 31. Although most people know them through the scary stories told about them during Halloween, bats are really our friends. See Bats – the forgotten pollinators.
According to the WDNR*, there are great reasons to celebrate bats:
- Bats are an important part of our ecosystems and provide Wisconsin farmers up to $1.5 billion in natural pest control every year, according to USGS research.
- Wisconsin bats consume 17 distinct types of mosquitoes, 9 of which are known to carry West Nile Virus, according to recent UW-Madison research into bat diets.
If there’s an event being held in your area celebrating bats, let me know and I’ll add it to this post.
- Wisconsin is not hosting a bat festival this year. See Wisconsin Bat Program.
- Minnesota Bat Festival, Saturday, October 26, 2019, 9AM-3:30PM.
See the BatWeek website hosted by Bat Conservation International Inc for more information.
Also see Bat Week 2018 for more facts and photos.
*WDNR stands for Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
I once learned that in some parts of the world, there were big caves, often of limestone with big springs, full of bats. I mean really full — complete with guano. They were sealed off with trash, including trash building parts, years ago. Finding these places again and ventilating them is supposed to be good for the environment.
I would think opening those caves as habitat for bats would be very good for the environment, Cindy.
Ney Collier sent a comment via Facebook I wanted to share with you. Ney wrote:
Be sure to get rid of burdock. Bats get trapped in the burrs and die a horrible death. Also burdock tears their wings. If you have not already killed burdock plants by cutting the root below the growing point using a parsnip predator tool, at least snip off burrs, bag and compost them.