Benefits of bats stretch from bugs to tequila to cashews

Bats, often considered spooky creatures, actually have many positive effects on our daily lives from controlling insects to pollinating bananas, mangoes and the plant used to make tequila.

“They play such a variety of roles,” said Theresa Laverty, a doctoral student working under Joel Berger in the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University. She studies bats primarily in Africa, but also has studied the mammals in Colorado, New Mexico and Montana.

The positive role of bats is being celebrated through National Bat Week, Tuesday, Oct. 24, to Tuesday, Oct. 31.

Colorado has 18 different species of bats, and there are 1,300 worldwide. These creatures, some of which weigh no more than a quarter, are integral to different ecosystems.

In Colorado, the biggest effect bats have on the ecosystem is that they eat insects, providing pest control, particularly in summer months when insect populations are at their height. This can protect crops and gardens from insect damage, according to information from the website, www.batweek.org

Crops bats protect worldwide include coffee beans, rice, walnuts, cotton and strawberries, according to the website.

Bats’ role on our food and flower supply is more widespread than just protection from insects. Though not in Colorado, many of the bat species in the world are responsible for dispersing seeds and pollinating plants.

Worldwide, more than 500 plant species rely on bats to help with pollination, including avocados, papaya and coconut palm trees, according to a cookbook, at www.batweek.org, that includes recipes with ingredients impacted by bats.

In the southern United States and Mexico, the lesser long-nosed bat is essential for pollinating the agave plant, which gives us both tequila and mescal, Laverty said. Other types of bats also pollinate certain kinds of cacti with flowers that bloom at night as well as guava, mango and banana.

Bats, too, spread seeds to keep crops growing including for cashews, almonds and mangoes, according to the cookbook. These foods, though not grown here, appear in markets and meals around Colorado.

Guano, a fancy word for bat poop, is harvested and sold as a garden fertilizer. One Colorado garden supply website markets the product for anywhere from $5.99 for one pound to $126.99 for 40 pounds.

“Between their role as predators of night insects, pollinators of night-blooming flowers, and spreading seeds across damaged landscapes, bats truly are heroes of the night skies,” the cookbook states. “They are a farmer’s, and a foodie’s, best friend!”

Here are some fun facts, provided by Laverty, about Colorado’s bats:

• Some species migrate south each winter, while many others hibernate during the those months.

• Some bats take cover in caves and old mines, while others sometimes shelter under bridges, under the bark in large, old trees, and in dark attics.

• Bats are active at night, and despite the saying, “blind as a bat,” these mammals actually see well in the dark. Their ability to navigate is enhanced by a form of sonar called echolocations in which they follow sound as it bounces off different objects.

• Bats typically have one to two babies per year, and the males and females live in different locations because they prefer slightly different temperature and humidity levels, Laverty said.

• The largest colony of bats in Colorado is in the San Luis Valley where hundreds of thousands of Brazilian free-tailed bats gather. In Texas, colonies of millions of these bats exist, controlling pests over crops.

Pamela Johnson: 970-699-5405, johnsonp@reporter-herald.com, www.twitter.com/RHPamelaJ.