Bats – Nighttime Neighbors
Durango Herald, Aug 9, 2007
Allison Pease, Executive Director

Artwork courtesy of Olivia Waggaman, Durango High School 9th grade

While sitting on my porch one evening just as the sky was turning dark, I caught a glimpse of something flying circuits through the air – bats.

I knew the laps they took through the air meant doom for the insects that had preyed upon my shins earlier in the evening, but I wondered if everyone felt such glee about bats or if they were filled with misconceptions brought to life in films of such greats as Bela Lugosi.

Bats predate Bela by 50 million years. More than 1,100 kinds of bats exist comprising almost one quarter of all known mammal species. Bats are found everywhere except at the poles and in extreme deserts. Forty-seven species live in North America, twenty-four in New Mexico, and eighteen in Colorado.

Environmentally and economically, bats are vital. One bat can consume 600 mosquitoes in an hour. The 20 million Bracken Cave bats in central Texas are known to eat 200 tons of insects in a single night.

Bats are critical seed dispersers and pollinators serving as “keystone”species in some ecosystems. Wild cousins of many crop plants rely on bats for survival including bananas, avocados, peaches, carob, and tequila. The African baobab tree is a stunning example. With reproductive organs below the flower, only bats approach from below to achieve pollination.

While vampire bats do exist, the only three species live in Latin America. They do not suck blood, but rather lap it from pin-pricks typically on the legs of sleeping hosts. The anticoagulant in their saliva is so remarkable that it has been synthesized as a medication for human heart patients.

Bats have excellent vision and use their eyes to find insects, fish, fruit, and flowers. Like dolphins, bats also use echolocation – a sophisticated system of sonar that surpasses scientific understanding in terms of effectiveness.

Bats are quick and nimble. They hunt the same insects that are attracted to the carbon dioxide we exhale and with echolocation are able to avoid objects no wider than a needle.

While bats can carry rabies, less than half a percent are infected. Those that are die within days. Bat rabies causes one US death per year as compared with dog attacks that kill more people annually than does bat rabies in a decade.

Bats and primates are closely related, sharing a common shrew-like ancestor. They live in colonies of interdependent members who are known to adopt orphans and bring food to less fortunate roost-mates.

Bat research has contributed to navigational aids for the blind, birth control, artificial insemination techniques, vaccines, drug testing, and surgical procedures.

As for me, I can only hope that my neighborhood bats return tomorrow night to munch on more mosquitoes.