The Endangered Indiana Bat
By: TJ Mayo
About the Indiana Bat
- The Indiana Bat is found in the eastern United States from Oklahoma, Iowa, Wisconsin, east to Vermont and south to northwestern Florida. With the majority of their population in southern Indiana. These states include both their winter hibernation locations and their summer homes.
- The Indiana Bat is endangered due to people disturbing the while they are hibernating in caves during the winter, resulting in the death of many bats. Indiana bats are vulnerable to disturbance because they hibernate in large numbers in only a few caves. Also, they are endangered because of commercialization of caves making the caves less suitable for bats, loss of summer habitat, pesticides, and most recently, the disease white-nose syndrome.
The Importance of the Indiana Bat
- The Indiana Bat is important ecologically because they help control insect populations by feeding on them and are pry for bat predator. Also, some mites live on their bodies to survive. The Indiana bat also they add nutrients to the caves they live in from their body waste and also the nutrients that are released from their bodies when they die. Lastly, the Indiana Bat is a good indicator of environmental health because they are sensitive to pesticides and pollution.
- The Indiana Bat is important economically because they control pest populations so then people don't have to spend money to get rid of all the pests. Also, a positive economic impact is from the use of their waste which can be harvested for further use in cosmetics and as fertilizer which saves a lot of people money because they don't have to use more expensive alternatives.
Work Cited
- "Critter Catalog." BioKIDS. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.
- "Indiana Bat." Indiana Bat. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.