this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2026
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Bats

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Bats are cool

Bats are the only true flying mammals. There are over 1,400 species of bats, and they can be found on nearly every part of the planet. Not only are they cute, they are also important...

Studying how bats use echolocation has helped scientists develop navigational aids for the blind. Without bats’ pollination, seed dispersal, and pest control we wouldn’t have bananas, avocados, mangoes, agave, or cacao… that’s right, bats bring us tequila and chocolate!

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Celebrate bats with us!

Our community's mascot is Baxter. Baxter is an Egyptian fruit bat that was cruelly kept alone and confined to a small cage for 12 years before being rescued by a bat sanctuary. You can read the full story by clicking on his name.

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Everyone should feel welcome here. Hateful or bigoted language will not be tolerated.

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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 17 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Lived in an apartment complex with a small pool at the center. It was an absolute breeding pit for mosquitoes which, in turn, became an all you can eat buffet for the bats.

But bats scared the neighbors, so an exterminator was called in to kill them all. And within a month, swarms of mosquitoes were all over the complex.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

This reads as a series of obvious outcomes, followed by said outcomes coming true.

[–] jws_shadotak@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 month ago

That sounds like the pool wasn't properly chlorinated which is a terrible health hazard.

[–] ickplant@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago

“So what’s really cool with these bats eating their body weight in bugs, which are primarily agricultural pests. Traveling about 60 miles one way to forage over where we have our corn and cotton and sorghum crops,” he said. “They’re going to fly 60 miles, and up to 10,000 feet in altitude, they’re going to eat their body weight in bugs, which is over 150 tons of bugs tonight. And they’re going to come back, nurse their young and do this all over again tomorrow.”

Source: https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/bracken-bat-cave-texas-colony-batnado/

[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 1 month ago

Went there and watched them fly out at dusk on a vacation as a kid back in the early 90's. It was really cool seeing such a massive amount of bats all at once.