Post by L Roebuck on Jul 12, 2006 11:09:11 GMT -5
Bats get their time in the spotlight
Updated: 7/8/2006 7:04:23 PM
By: Staff and wire reports
For years, Hollywood alarmed people with images of bats as blood-sucking vampires.
But today, scientists are discovering that bats are important for people as well as nature, and they're passing that information on.
Kids and their families gathered at Bracken Cave in New Braunfels, where 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats emerge every night to hunt for insects. Bat biologist Meg Goodman said there are a significant number of bats in Texas.
"We have a high diversity and they are just very beneficial in many ways. One is because our Mexican free-tailed bats here eat so many costly agricultural pests," she said.
Goodman hopes she can teach groups that visit the cave that bats are useful animals.
"There are certain rules you want to follow when you bring people out to a big bat emergence, but we find this an amazing educational opportunity. We really want to debunk a lot of myths about bats," Goodman said.
For example, bats aren’t blind. They see quite well.
With new technology, researchers can now count the number of bats in Central Texas and figure out how much money they save farmers by eating insect pests.
"These bats are eating half to maybe three-quarters of their body weight of insects each night. If you take their body weight and multiply it by 20 million you come up with like 200 tons of insects every night are being eaten by these bats," Gary McCracken of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville said.
"I think we have got a number of things going on. People in Texas are much more aware about bats than probably 10 certainly 20 years ago. It is very important that they get that opportunity to experience it firsthand and know what it is that we are trying to conserve," Wildlife Diversity program director John Herron said.
Want to learn more about bats? Contact Bat Conservation International online or at (512) 327-9721.
Article and Going Batty Video
www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/default.asp?ArID=166136
Updated: 7/8/2006 7:04:23 PM
By: Staff and wire reports
For years, Hollywood alarmed people with images of bats as blood-sucking vampires.
But today, scientists are discovering that bats are important for people as well as nature, and they're passing that information on.
Kids and their families gathered at Bracken Cave in New Braunfels, where 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats emerge every night to hunt for insects. Bat biologist Meg Goodman said there are a significant number of bats in Texas.
"We have a high diversity and they are just very beneficial in many ways. One is because our Mexican free-tailed bats here eat so many costly agricultural pests," she said.
Goodman hopes she can teach groups that visit the cave that bats are useful animals.
"There are certain rules you want to follow when you bring people out to a big bat emergence, but we find this an amazing educational opportunity. We really want to debunk a lot of myths about bats," Goodman said.
For example, bats aren’t blind. They see quite well.
With new technology, researchers can now count the number of bats in Central Texas and figure out how much money they save farmers by eating insect pests.
"These bats are eating half to maybe three-quarters of their body weight of insects each night. If you take their body weight and multiply it by 20 million you come up with like 200 tons of insects every night are being eaten by these bats," Gary McCracken of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville said.
"I think we have got a number of things going on. People in Texas are much more aware about bats than probably 10 certainly 20 years ago. It is very important that they get that opportunity to experience it firsthand and know what it is that we are trying to conserve," Wildlife Diversity program director John Herron said.
Want to learn more about bats? Contact Bat Conservation International online or at (512) 327-9721.
Article and Going Batty Video
www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/default.asp?ArID=166136