Gifts from nature: Farmers’ friends

American farmers have an unsung partner in bringing your holiday favorites to the table -- bats.

Bat hunting a moth. Credit: Bat Conservation International.

During this season of holiday giving, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would like to take time and reflect on the gifts we receive throughout the year from Mother Nature. Gifts of Nature are treasures to behold and wonders to be thankful for.

Bringing bat science to life: Inspiring--and being inspired by--a budding biologist

Today you're hearing from Ann Froschauer, national white-nose syndrome communications coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

A few months ago, I was reading my daily news alerts about bats and white-nose syndrome, and I came across a story 
about a little girl who was in love with bats, and desperate to do something about white-nose syndrome. Miri, a seven year-old at the time, had been a bat lover since she was just a few years old, and had recently learned about WNS and research that the Boston University bat lab was doing to try to combat the disease. Miri wrote to Santa Claus last year, asking for his 
help in saving the bats, and decided that she wants to be a bat biologist when she grows up.

My heart melted- a mini-me! Although my interest in bats didn't really get going until I was a teenager, I felt like we might have a real window of opportunity to connect Miri to
 the thing she loved, and really inspire her to stay interested in science and bats. I immedately contacted my friend Nate 
Fuller in the BU bat lab and said "we have to get Miri out to see some bats and keep her excited about this!" Read the rest.

Needed: Batman-proof bat caves

Today you're hearing from
Eric Schrading, a biologist
in our New Jersey Field Office.
Read more from Eric.

Sure, some people either don’t understand or don’t like bats.

They make up fearful stories about bats and their habits and associate them with villainous creatures such as vampires. But let’s lay down some facts about these truly unique and wonderful creatures.

Bats are the world’s only flying mammals. They can consume nearly one-third their body weight of insects in less than half an hour (that’s a lot of agricultural and forest pests, mosquitoes, and stink bugs), and they are also one of the only animals that are associated with one of America’s most popular superheroes: Batman.