Mosquito-Munching Florida Bats Shadows In the Night
By Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission // July 4, 2014
gluttonous consumers of night-flying insects
Gaze into the evening sky to spot a shadow that looks like a bird but with faster fluttering wings and a more erratic flight pattern.
It’s our friend, the bat, in hot pursuit of mosquitoes. Florida’s 13 native bat species are gluttonous consumers of night-flying insects, including the ever-present, ever-biting mosquitoes.
They can eat up to half of their body weight in insects in one night! So this summer as you cook out, enjoy 4th of July fireworks or otherwise engage in nighttime outdoor activities, appreciate our bats.
Bats play a key role in natural ecosystems, while helping protect people and animals from mosquito-borne diseases and saving Florida farmers millions of dollars a year in pest control.
You may know about white-nose syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease that has killed millions of cave-hibernating bats since 2006 in the Eastern and Midwestern U.S. and Canada, but WNS has not yet been detected in Florida.
Help our bats by educating folks on their value to nature and our lives.
