October is bat appreciation month, which goes right along with Halloween (thanks to Bram Stokerís Dracula character that can turn into a bat). Bats might be scary to some people; however, they are an important part of the ecosystem. Recent studies estimate that bats eat enough pests to save more than $1 billion per year in crop damage and pesticide costs in the United States corn industry alone.According to the National Park Service, bats feast on insects every night, adding up to more than $3.7 billion worth of pest control each year in the U.S. Bats eat enough insects in one night to equal a teenage boy eating 200 quarter-pound burgers that same night! Fruit-eating bats play important roles in distributing seeds to maintain plants and forests.
