Everything Omaha Residents Need To Know About Bat Conservation

Bats are often misunderstood animals and not nearly as bad as you might think. Their benefits to us far outweigh any threats they pose. If you have a bat problem, it is critical to handle it in a conscientious way because of the significant role bats play in our ecosystem. Join us as we look at why bats are vital, what is going on in our area to protect them, and how your bat mitigation can help conserve bat populations. If you would like to speak directly with a bat mitigationtechnician, contact us or connect with us by text. CP Bat Mitigation offers exclusion services and bat control in Omaha. We are your local area bat experts.

When you discover bats in the attic, we can understand why you would want those bats dealt with immediately. Your home is your castle, and bats can be more than a bit intimidating, particularly if you don't know all that much about them. There are many misconceptions about these night fliers. For instance, you may think that every bat has rabies. This is not the case at all. While rabies is a concern, only a fraction of the population is infected with this disease. You may also think that bats will swoop down and try to bite you. This is incredibly rare. The vast majority of the time, bats are docile animals. The only time they bite is when they're handled, and they do so because they are scared. Bats aren't scary animals. They are far more scared of you than you are of them. If you are not attempting to capture them, there is little chance they will ever bite you. The main issue with bats is that they are a nuisance. They get inside, cause damage, and contaminate areas with their guano. Most of the time, there are beneficial animals.

How are bats important to our ecosystem?

Here are four key ways bats play a beneficial role in our ecosystem:

1. Bats eat a lot of insects: It is really quite surprising. If we didn't have bats, we'd likely be overrun with insect pests. They help us with pest control. Moreover, bats eat insects that are harmful to us, like mosquitoes. That is no small benefit.
2. Bats help with pollination: We often think of bees when the term pollination is mentioned. But bees and many other pollinators are active during the day. They aren't active at night when night-blooming flowers open up. Bats target this niche. 
3. Bats spread seeds: They consume fruit, fly great distances, and leave their guano on the ground. The guano acts as a fertilizer helping the seeds germinate. There are many ways this seed dispersal is a benefit to the world ecosystem. We'll cover more about this in another article.
4. Bats are helping us understand viruses: The body of a bat is an incredible reservoir for a variety of viruses. Researchers are able to study bats to learn how zoonotic diseases spread to humans.

The world is better with bats in it. Unfortunately, bat populations are continually threatened, and we must protect them to help them survive. How does conservation help? And what does conservation even mean? Let's take a look.

The word "conserve" means to protect something from harm or destruction, particularly a natural organism in our ecosystem. Bat conservation seeks to protect bats from harm so they can continue to live long and happy lives, providing us with all of their many benefits. How does bat conservation work in Nebraska? There are a few conservation efforts in Nebraska working to protect bats. Over the last two decades, a major concern has been wind turbines. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of bats die annually in turbine incidents. Steps have been taken to adjust turbine operations to decrease bat fatalities, and they're making progress. But, the most significant way we protect bats is by helping to maintain appropriate habitats. We can do this by addressing urbanization, deforestation, and general agricultural expansion. We can also build roosts for bats so the bats have places to live, even when the environment doesn't provide a suitable home.