Bats: The Gardener's Friend

Bats and gardening, says the San Antonio Express-News, “go hand in hand - or perhaps hand in wing.” The Texas newspaper said that fact likely comes as a surprise to many gardeners. Bats, after all, are much maligned and widely misunderstood.

The Express-News put in a few good words for bats and Bat Conservation International as part of its announcement that BCI Founder Merlin Tuttle would be speaking on “The Amazing World of Bats” at a flower and horticulture show sponsored by the city's Alamo Heights-Terrell Hills Garden Club.

Tuttle, incidentally, is being honored for his conservation efforts this month with the Garden Club of America's Margaret Douglas Medal. The Alamo Heights-Terrell Hills Garden Club nominated Tuttle for the national award.

“Bats are responsible for pollinating a number of medicinal plants, as well as native plants. And they eat insects, which saves us from having to use chemicals and pesticides on our gardens,” Katy Flato, the club's conservation chairman, told the newspaper.

Much of the gardening-and-bats relationship is one of numbers, the Express-News says. It quotes Tuttle as saying, “At the Bracken Cave alone, the (Mexican free-tailed) bats eat 200 tons of insects in one night.” The cave, owned and protected by BCI, is near San Antonio.

Plants and bats are much more connected than some people realize, Tuttle said. “There are some flowers that are shaped specifically to focus on the bat's echolocation system so that they guide the bat in for pollination like landing lights at an airport.”

Tuttle founded Bat Conservation International in 1982 for the purpose of bat education, conservation and research. It has grown to more than 14,000 members in 70 countries.

Go to BCI Website