Golden Eyes and Moonlit Flight…
Bats Are Our Ecological Friends
By Sarah Felumb,
Manager of Education Programs
at the Wildlife Rescue Center
Autumn leaves begin their cascading dance towards the forest floor, and daylight grows more scarce with each passing sunset. Out on the pond at the Wildlife Rescue Center, the last waves of our long, hot summer are drawing to a close. Our resident beavers briskly secure their dam, while the green herons and wood ducks take flight for warmer waters. We traditionally welcome this unfolding drama by celebrating the darkness and the creatures of the night: our hauntingly mysterious nocturnal animals. The nocturnal mammal: a creature that wakes up when most of us are nodding off. One such is the brown bat, known throughout lore and often referenced in the myths of old. Regardless of superstition, the bat most certainly has super powers in maintaining our ecosystem. Bats consume over forty times their weight in insects each night they set out to hunt. While many of us quietly count sheep, bats are scouring the landscape for some of our least favorite winged creatures: mosquito, vegetable-devouring moths, caterpillars, and beetles. In fact, one bat can eat up to 1,000 insects in an hour. Traditional farmers often construct bat housing around their land as an organic method of insect control. Instead of creepy, we see bats as necessary to the ancient karsts which engrave the Missouri landscape.
This fall at the Wildlife Rescue Center we invite your family to attend our “Tales of the Night” celebration on October 29th at 6:30pm.
The evening begins with hot chocolate and a nocturnal trail walk around the pond, followed by a family bonfire with s’mores. Come out in celebration of the autumn season, our nocturnal neighbors, and the Wildlife Rescue Center! See our website for details and RSVP: www.mowildlife.org.