Thinking back to the post-World War Two era, farmers were keen on using DDT, a “first-of-its-kind” pesticide at the time. Although it was moderately effective at protecting crops and even preventing malaria, the dangers of DDT pesticides were soon discovered. New alternative pesticide products now exist, but they still pose certain hazards to our surrounding Eco-systems and planet as a whole. To make matters worse, according to an article written by Dr. Michael C.R. Alavanja, even to this day our country is using an average of 1 billion pounds of pesticides each year for crop protection.

For these reasons and more, we need a new solution to pesticide; one that will not cause our planet any more harm or pollution. A great place to start is to protect and preserve our local bat populations. Why bats? What do they have to do with pesticide? Well, bats are nature’s pesticide! Continue reading to learn why!

Bats and the Eco-System

Bats are known as filthy, scary, flying rodents that will attack and suck the blood of an innocent victim. The reality is, bats have been given this reputation through literature, media, and more. The truth about bats is that they are harmless, for the most part, and will not attack you or harm another person unless provoked or attacked themselves. Although they are destructive to our properties in cases of infestation, bats are actually vital parts of our surrounding Eco-systems and even our local economies. Mostly, their positive contribution to our local Eco-systems and economies is due to their natural pesticide tendencies.

Bats and Pest Control

You see, bats are not usually solitary mammals. See our last month’s blog, “Do Bats Live Alone or in Groups?” Instead, most bat populations native to Virginia live in large colonies, typically in the hundreds or thousands. And a single bat can consume more than 1,000 flying insects in a single night, which means a bat colony can eradicate millions of insects in just one night! Since there are numerous bat colonies in Virginia, that adds up to billions of flying pests hunted and eaten every single night! That is impressive, and FREE, pest control.

So what does this have to do with our local Eco-systems and economies? See our blog, “The Ecological Importance of Bats” to find out all the details regarding their amazing contributions. Basically, bats eat up all the pests that fly around at night, such as mosquitoes, gnats, flies, dragonflies, moths, and more, all of which destroy farmers’ crops. With this added level of crop protection, farmers can grow better, healthier produce, which can be sold to the community, which adds money to the farmers’ wallets and the local economy!

Doing Your Part

If you want to support local bat populations and help our country reduce it’s excessive use of pesticides, there are many things you can do. You can donate to various wildlife rescue and conservation initiatives, or you can even install bat houses on your property. Read our blog, “How to Safely Support Local Bat Colonies” to learn more ways to help bats.

Nuisance Bats

As mentioned, bats can also be a nuisance to property owners in the case of an infestation or interference. If this happens to you, it is important to never attempt to touch, harm, trap, or kill bats under any circumstances. Instead, do your part to preserve and protect the local bat populations by contacting a licensed and insured Virginia bat removal company for safe and humane service.

Virginia Bat Removal and Control

Call Virginia Bat Pros at 804-729-9097 to receive a basic, over-the-phone quote for bat removal and control assistance. We serve all of Virginia, including Richmond, Petersburg, Short Pump, Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Newport News, Virginia Beach, and all of their surrounding areas. We offer 24 hour bat removal, as well as, numerous residential and commercial bat exclusion services, such as bat cleanup and restorations
for bat damages.