How Bats Are Helpful — Outside The House

It may be surprising to learn that without bats, the Earth would be a different and poorer place to live. Although they may have a bad reputation, the more than 1,300 species of bats in the world play an important role in the environment and ecosystem. Bats usually exist in abundance in a healthy and stable ecosystem, so their presence can indicate the health of the environment. Here are several reasons why bats matter:

 

 

Pest Controllers

While many people consider bats to be pests, they are “insectivorous.” Bats love to feed on insects and bugs that can damage your property or cause serious health issues. In fact, they may consume thousands of insects, including blood-sucking and disease-carrying mosquitoes.

 

 

Mango, banana, cocoa, guava, durian, and agave are among the plant species that rely on bats for pollination. While most flowering plants do not have the ability to produce seeds and fruit without pollination, bats help transfer the stamen (male part of the flower) to the pistil (female part of the flower). As they travel from one flower to another to drink nectar, they are able to pollinate more than 700 different plant species (some of which we use for medicine and food).

 

 

Seed Dispensers

Bats can be considered gardeners of the rainforest. Fruit bats naturally feed on fruits. After they digest the fruit, they disperse the seeds in various locations through their droppings. Bats scatter these seeds away from their parent plants, so the seeds are able to grow without competition. When dropped to the ground, the seeds are able to germinate and grow healthy and well in their ready-made fertilizer.

 

 

Bat Guano is Good for Gardens

Many gardeners purchase and use bat guano or droppings in their garden to fertilize the plants. Bat dung is rich in potassium, nitrogen, and phosphate, (essential in plant growth, particularly root development and flower health). Guano also acts as a natural fungicide by protecting the soil from nematodes, a microscopic, parasitic worm that stunts the growth of plants.

Although often portrayed as scary, blood-sucking night creatures, bats are extremely helpful in keeping the environment and ecosystem healthy and stable. However, when bats live inside your home, it is a different story. Despite their amazing benefits to the environment and ecosystem, bats can endanger your home and health.

 

 

Did you know building a bat house on your property can provide great rewards, and spare you some mosquito bites this summer? On a farm, a bat house enables bats to eat pests that damage corn, pecans, almonds, coffee, rice, tomatoes, sugarcane, cotton, and beans.

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On March 10th, 2018   /   Animal and Wildlife Control, Bats   /   Leave a comment