“Nature’s Nursery cares for thousands of injured and orphaned wild animals every year. After a record-breaking year in 2020, that trend is continuing. Right now the center in Whitehouse has a lot of bats, an animal that’s seen a huge drop in its numbers.
You may not like bats, but Executive Director Allison Schroeder says you should like what they eat for a living.
‘The statistics I’ve seen say that each bat eats up to 1,000 mosquitoes an hour.’
The staff and volunteers here are caring for about 20 bats right now.
‘Bats come in this time of year because their hibernation was disturbed, and there are no insects for them to eat.’
Schroeder says it is important to remember that bats are critical to our environment on a number of levels.
‘The bat population is estimated to be down about 70 percent in our area. They are extremely important to the ecosystem. Not only because they eat nuisance bugs like mosquitoes, but they also eat bugs that are a nuisance to farm crops. We work hard to save each and every one of the bats that comes into Nature’s Nursery because they are so critical to our world.’
You can be a part of helping the population rebound.
‘I have a bat house at my home. It was very easy to install and it is making a big difference for the bats and my family. We live on the water, and we have had zero mosquitoes because the bats go in and out of the house all the time, and take care of them for us,’ says Schroeder.
Bats are just one of the many species that are now arriving at Nature’s Nursery.
‘Baby season started this week. We say once it starts, the flood gates just seem to open, and they all start trickling in.’
Finding a place for all the animals is always a challenge.”
View the whole story here: https://www.13abc.com/2021/02/26/natures-nursery-working-to-help-save-critically-threatened-species/