Post by L Roebuck on Oct 27, 2006 8:29:11 GMT -5
To the bat cave! Rescue effort crosses the Mexican border
By Ceci Connolly
MEXICO CITY — Shortly before sundown they make their first foray, cruising up to 5,000 feet above ground in search of mosquitoes, moths and other tasty treats. A few hours later, they return home to rest and feed their young before heading out again around midnight.
By daybreak, when Mexican free-tailed bats finally return to their cave, named Cueva de la Boca, the colony will have traveled as far as 62 miles and gobbled some 12 tons of bugs out of the skies near the U.S. border. And in cornfields from Texas to Iowa, farmers are giving thanks.
Or at least they should be.
Sure, some people think bats are creepy. They hang upside down, squeal at high decibels and turn up in movies as blood-sucking fiends (though only two species feed on wild birds' blood and only one drinks cattle blood). Some even spread rabies. But, it turns out that in the global ecosystem, bats are humanity's allies.
Every night, the flying mammals work feverishly. They pollinate plants such as the agave, the source of Mexico's iconic tequila. Their excrement, called guano, is a valuable fertilizer. And bats eat up to one-quarter of their body weight in insects every night, making them one of the simplest, safest, most cost-effective forms of pest control available.
But for decades, intentionally or otherwise, property owners, hikers and sightseers have trampled habitat, dumped garbage and set fires, decimating the bat populations in many parts of the world.
Now, in a unique cross-border alliance, bat lovers have embarked on a multiyear effort to quantify the damage and replenish the bat population of northern Mexico. The project, being spearheaded by the nonprofit Texas-based Bat Conservation International (BCI), includes detailed mapping of hundreds of present and former bat roosts, educational programs for farmers and even purchases of land to protect the most vulnerable colonies.
In late September, armed with BCI data, the Mexican environmental group Pronatura Noreste bought the Cueva de la Boca cave outside Monterrey for about $500,000. It is believed to be the first purchase of a bat cave by Mexican conservationists, said Magdalena Rovalo, a biologist and director of the organization. Access is now limited to researchers, and plans are under way to build an observation tower in the hopes of generating tourism.
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By Ceci Connolly
MEXICO CITY — Shortly before sundown they make their first foray, cruising up to 5,000 feet above ground in search of mosquitoes, moths and other tasty treats. A few hours later, they return home to rest and feed their young before heading out again around midnight.
By daybreak, when Mexican free-tailed bats finally return to their cave, named Cueva de la Boca, the colony will have traveled as far as 62 miles and gobbled some 12 tons of bugs out of the skies near the U.S. border. And in cornfields from Texas to Iowa, farmers are giving thanks.
Or at least they should be.
Sure, some people think bats are creepy. They hang upside down, squeal at high decibels and turn up in movies as blood-sucking fiends (though only two species feed on wild birds' blood and only one drinks cattle blood). Some even spread rabies. But, it turns out that in the global ecosystem, bats are humanity's allies.
Every night, the flying mammals work feverishly. They pollinate plants such as the agave, the source of Mexico's iconic tequila. Their excrement, called guano, is a valuable fertilizer. And bats eat up to one-quarter of their body weight in insects every night, making them one of the simplest, safest, most cost-effective forms of pest control available.
But for decades, intentionally or otherwise, property owners, hikers and sightseers have trampled habitat, dumped garbage and set fires, decimating the bat populations in many parts of the world.
Now, in a unique cross-border alliance, bat lovers have embarked on a multiyear effort to quantify the damage and replenish the bat population of northern Mexico. The project, being spearheaded by the nonprofit Texas-based Bat Conservation International (BCI), includes detailed mapping of hundreds of present and former bat roosts, educational programs for farmers and even purchases of land to protect the most vulnerable colonies.
In late September, armed with BCI data, the Mexican environmental group Pronatura Noreste bought the Cueva de la Boca cave outside Monterrey for about $500,000. It is believed to be the first purchase of a bat cave by Mexican conservationists, said Magdalena Rovalo, a biologist and director of the organization. Access is now limited to researchers, and plans are under way to build an observation tower in the hopes of generating tourism.
Full Article
