[sotd] Endangered Species Program: Bats [January 28, 2009]

        Site of the Day for Wednesday, January 28, 2009

        Endangered Species Program: Bats

Today's site, from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, presents an exhibit on a
creature whose bad press is legendary -- the bat. Gentle Subscribers will 
discover
an interesting range of information, based on the academic work of two 
university
researchers, about this much maligned mammal and the threatening circumstances
affecting a number of bat species which have placed them on the endangered list.

"Bats may be the most misunderstood animals in the United States, although as
consumers of enormous numbers of insects, they rank among the most beneficial.
Almost all United States bats, and 70 percent of the bat species worldwide, feed
almost exclusively on insects and are thus extremely beneficial. In fact, bats 
are
the only major predators of night-flying insects. One bat can eat between 600 
and
1,000 mosquitoes and other insect pests in just one hour." - from the website

The presentation discusses the beneficial roles played by bats in the U.S.,
including their activities as vital plant pollinators, disseminators of fruit 
seeds
and as mosquito feeders. Additional sections in the exhibit cover the common 
myths
and misconceptions about bats, information on bat biology, hibernation and
migration habits, as well as details about the six specific bat species which 
are
endangered. An overview of the reasons for bat population decline is also
available.

Swoop over to the site for an informative exhibit on bats at:

http://www.fws.gov/endangered/bats/bats.htm

  A.M. Holm
<admin-sotd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  Manage your subscription and view the List archives on the web at:
<http://www.freelists.org/cgi-bin/webpage?webpage_id=sotd> and
 <http://www.freelists.org/archives/sotd>


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UNSUBSCRIBE by sending a blank email to sotd-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 
unsubscribe in the Subject field.

Other related posts: