10 Million Bats Begin Nightly Flight to Eat 100 Tons of Insects

Bracken Cave, near San Antonio, Texas, harbors one of the world's largest breeding colonies of bats -- about 10 million Mexican free-tailed bats, to be precise. Bat Conservation International owns almost 700 acres around the site, but a developer is planning to build nearly 4,000 homes on 1,500 acres directly in the path taken nightly by the colony as the adults emerge to feed. They consume an estimated 100 tons of insects each night, mainly agricultural pests. More here from BCI: http://j.mp/brackenbatcave
More soon on Dot Earth here:
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