Are you aware there are 10 places where you can go bat-shit crazy in the Lone Star State? Particularly in the Hill Country! Yep, the state of Texas is batty about bats! Texans love watching bats emerge in the evenings and they will travel to do it. Most particularly, Texas is crazy about the Mexican Free-tailed Bat who migrates to many parts of the state beginning in March every year. These cool bats spend their winters in Mexico and summers in Texas. Sounds kind of nice, don’t you think? So, why does Texas, or anyone for that matter, care about bat populations, you want to know? Well, the answer is quite simple: bats are a very necessary part of our ecosystem. Throughout history people have viewed bats in a negative fashion, but the fact is that they are a positive force in nature and in farming, for many reasons. They eat a lot of our most detested and bothersome insects such as mosquitoes, they pollinate many plant and tree species, and even their guano (waste) can be mined and used as a very valuable fertilizer. Farmers, especially those in Texas, encourage bats to forage on their lands nightly. Mexican Free-Tailed Bats love eating moths, and moths love to eat corn, cotton, pecans and sorghum from the fields. Did you know that moths can lay 1,000 eggs? Imagine the tons of moths eaten by bats, lowering the number of these pests eating crops. Studies have found that bats save millions of dollars in pesticide costs for farmers all over the United States, and that is good for humans and the economy as well. Texas Hill Country is a bat mecca! [Read more…] about 10 Places You Can Go Bat-Shit Crazy in Texas Hill Country!
