An Eastern Small-Footed Bat, of a species found in New England.
Hollywood and literature routinely portray bats as blood-sucking monsters. It’s entertaining, but in reality, humans are a much bigger threat to these winged mammals than they are to us. In fact, their presence is beneficial in numerous ways.
Bats play an important role in the control of mosquitoes and agricultural pests. They save the United States about $1 billion annually in pest control. Bats in the Southwest and other warm areas around the world help plants grow by pollinating flowers. When nectar-drinking bats stick their long noses into flowers, they become covered in pollen that they then bring to other flowers. Through pollination, bats help grow avocados, bananas, and mangoes. In all, some 300 species of fruit depend on bats for pollination.
Also, of the 1,400 or so bat species worldwide, only three — the Common Vampire Bat, the Hairy-Legged Vampire Bat and the White-Winged Vampire Bat — feed solely on blood, mostly that of birds. You would have to travel much further south than southern New England to find one….
The eight species of bats that can be found in Rhode Island are divided into two classes: tree bats (Eastern Red Bat, Hoary Bat, and Silver-Haired Bat) and hibernators (Little Brown Bat, Big Brown Bat, Tricolored Bat, Northern Long-Eared Bat, and Eastern Small-Footed Bat). They are all insectivores.
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