The United States government should provide incentives for farmers to create artificial bats caves in strategic locations along the length of Texas to serve as an impediment to migratory crop pests.

Every night the estimated twenty millions bats of bracken cave eat more than two hundred tons of insects. [1] Of the forty species [2] of native bats twelve are considered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to be threatened or worse.[3] I am a wildlife science major and conservation of native species is important to me. Austin is my hometown and bats have been embraced as part of the culture there. The bridge on Congress Avenue is home to the largest urban colony of bats in the world. [4]

Pest insects destroy more than twenty percent of the world’s production of crops annually. [5]

In order to combat this, the agriculture industry uses a little under $60 per acre to manage the issue. And according to southwestfarmpress.com that figure is trending upwards annually. [6] Increasing amounts of pesticide results in more money spent at the grocery store for food that has higher levels of poison present every year.

One thing that insects can’t develop a resistance to is predation (at least not in a matter of years). Bats are an insect’s worst nightmare with each Mexican free-tailed bat consuming up to 20 moths per night. Each moth could be carrying from 500 to 1,000 eggs. That prevents a density of 5,000 to 10,000 caterpillars per acre. [7]

As valuable as bats are, they are in the decline due to development and people outright destroying them out of fear. [8]

The “Chiroptorium,” a man-made bat cave that can house several hundred thousand migratory free-tailed bats. Many of the pests that plague the agriculture industry are actually migratory and putting artificial cave in strategic locations will act as a sort of mine field reducing the overall numbers of migratory insects in the the country. To speed the process along the government should sign legislation that awards grants or tax benefits for farms that construct them.

Short Term - With a few built and inhabited, adjacent farms in the area will show signs of pest reduction and dramatic decrease of annoying biting insects like mosquitos. In the off season when the bats have migrated back across the border into Mexico their guano can be collected and used as free and effective fertilizer. [9]

Long Term - As farmer’s see the benefits of chiroptoriums they will be adopted and constructed in higher numbers. In the long run, with this much protection and ready access to food, the national decline in bat populations will be a thing of the past and the cost of fruits and vegetables will decline instead. Diseases vectored by biting insects will be less of an issue with millions of carriers being devoured nightly by the furry heroes.

The chiroptorium idea is not pure conjecture. The first was built in the 1998 by a man named J. David and within a few years he had successfully created a hub where migratory free-tailed bats go to give birth and raise their pups. [10] Since then, the numbers have increased every year as the bats return to rear again.

If the trend of pest resistance to insecticide continues, farmers will have to use more every year to get the same results. That is not a sustainable model, eventually there will be a point where pests will destroy crops completely impervious to poisons. [11]

After this I hope that you have a more positive opinions about bats and feel that they are the key to pest prevention in the future.

[1] 20 Million Bats/200 Tons of Insects

Earthtouch. "Bracken Cave: Home to the World's Largest Bat Colony."YouTube. YouTube, 01 Oct. 2014. Web. 01 Apr. 2016. <>.

[2] 40 Native Species

"Night Friends - American Bats Online Activity Guide." NWF.org. National Wildlife Federation, n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2016. .

[3] 12 Endangered Bat Species

"Species Search Results." Species Search Results. US Fish & Wildlife Service, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2016. .

[4] Congress Avenue Bat Colony

"Congress Avenue Bridge." Congress Avenue Bridge. Bat Conservation International, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2016. .

[5] Insects destroy 20% of global crops

"Insect Damage: Post-Harvest Operations." Food and Agriculture of the United Nations. Publisher, n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2016. .

[6] $60/acre pesticide/Upward trend

Robinson, Elton. "Yield Loss to Insects up Slightly, so Is Cost of Control."Yield Loss to Insects up Slightly, so Is Cost of Control. Southwest Farm Press, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2016.

[7] Bats eat 20 moths/night

Tuttle, Merlin. "Free-Tailed Bat Caves and Crop Pests." The Secret Lives of Bats. New York: Houghton Mifflin Hartcourt, 2015. 138-57. Print.

Bamberger’s Folly

[8] People kill bats

"Irrational Fears Threaten and Trees." Death of A Million Trees. N.p., 29 Jan. 2016. Web. 1 Apr. 2016. .

[9] Bamberger’s Folly

"The Chiroptorium: Bamberger’s Folly." Bambergerranch.org. Bamberberger Ranch Preserve, n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2016. .

[10] Guano

Phipps, Nikki. "Uses For Bat Dung (or Bat Guano) In The Garden."Gardening Know How. N.p., 03 Mar. 2010. Web. 01 Apr. 2016. .

[11] Insect Resistance

Buhler, Wayne. "Insecticide Resistance." Insecticide Resistance. Center for Integrated Pest Management, n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2016. .