Living with the Big Brown Bat

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Bats can eat their body weight in insects, keeping the populations of pests down. This is only one of the many benefits that bats have to human beings. There are numerous feeding studies that were conducted on the Big Brown Bat show that they consume a significant amount of crop and forest pests, such as pests including ground beetles, scarab beetles, cucumber beetles, snout beetles and stink bugs, as well as numerous species of moths and leafhoppers. Females can consume their own body weight in insects in one night, and a colony of just 150 big brown bats can consume enough adult cucumber beetles in one summer to prevent egg-laying that would produce 33 million of their root-worm larvae, a major pest of corn (Whitaker, 1995). Not only are the bats beneficial when it comes to keeping pests under control, they also play a big part in pollinating plants and disperse seeds. Many agricultural plans, such as bananas, mangos, avocados or peaches rely on pollination through bats. Without help from the bats, many ecosystems would slowly die. We talked about the vampire bat earlier, and what most people don’t know is that the vampire bat’s saliva can actually help save lives. The saliva contains a strong anticoagulant (it prevents blood from coagulating and blood clots from forming) and may be used to treat heart patients in the future (U.S Department of The Interior, Bureau Of Land Management).

After learning a little more about bats in general and looking at the benefits of the Big Brown Bat to humans, it might be easier for us to accept that this kind of bat prefers to live in and around our houses. Living with us benefits them and they benefit us. They are not harmful and with humans invading and destroying the bat’s natural habitat, the least we can do is proving them a new home. They are – after all- just shy little insect eaters. After reading and learning more about these fascinating animals, I feel that I understand them a little bit better now. I made the decision to let them stay at our house as long as they want.

Works cited:

Agosta, Salvatore J., and David Morton. "Diet Of The Big Brown Bat, Eptesicus Fuscus, From Pennsylvania And Western Maryland." Northeastern Naturalist 10.1 (2003): 89. Environment Complete. Web. 6 July 2014.

Bat Conservation International, (http://www.nps.gov/cave/naturescience/bats.htm)

Desert Museum, (https://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/bats/Big%20Brown%20Bat.php).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (http://www.cdc.gov/features/bats/ April 2014)

Lausen, C. L., & Barclay, R. M. R. (2006). BENEFITS OF LIVING IN A BUILDING: BIG BROWN BATS (EPTESICUS FUSCUS) IN ROCKS VERSUS BUILDINGS. Journal of Mammalogy, 87(2), 362-370. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/221470403?accountid=3783

Mulheisen, M. and K. Berry 2000. "Eptesicus fuscus" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed July 06, 2014 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Eptesicus_fuscus/

National Park Service, New Mexico http://www.nps.gov/cave/naturescience/bats.htm

U.S Department Of The Interior, Bureau Of Land Management: (http://www.blm.gov/id/st/en/environmental_education/BLM-Idaho_nature/wildlife/bats/the_benefits_of_bats.html )

Whitaker, J 1995:Department of Life And Sciences, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, Indiana 47509