Posts Tagged ‘bats’
Bat Appreciation
October is bat appreciation month! Overall, bats get a relatively bad reputation for their unique characteristics. While it is bat appreciation month, we should really appreciate them all year long. Bats offer a variety of benefits. Here are some of the great work they do for their ecosystems: They control the insect populations. Bats eat Read More »
Read MoreHow animals survive the winter
Humans often hole themselves up in their houses to survive the winter in front of the fire with hot chocolate. However, animals have to survive the frigid chill outside in the elements, and they have different ways of dealing with the change in seasons. Let’s take a quick look at how these Iowa animals survive. Read More »
Read MoreBats use echolocation to find prey
Bats can see about as well as humans. However, they are nocturnal — which means they are active at night — and think about how well you can see at night. (Read about nocturnal animals in Iowa.) Without a light, can you see a mosquito? You might feel it bite you, but you sure wouldn’t Read More »
Read MoreFoods we wouldn’t have without pollinators
What if you couldn’t have any almonds or cashews in that nut mix you love to snack on? What if you couldn’t eat sesame chicken because sesame didn’t exist anymore? What if bananas, blueberries and tomatoes weren’t on the shelves anymore? One in three bites of food that we take is due to pollinators, and Read More »
Read MoreBats in Iowa: Myths, facts and why we should love them
I get odd looks when I tell people that I think bats are cute. This first summer that I worked at the Dickinson County Nature Center, we had a family bring in a little brown bat that they had found on their driveway. (If you find a bat on the ground, give us a call Read More »
Read MoreTeaching our children to appreciate nature
It breaks my heart. Someone intentionally ran over two young raccoons a few blocks from my house. Kids at a day care were encouraged to throw rocks at a snake and hit a bat with foam bats. I heard both of these stories within the past day, and they just give me a pit in Read More »
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