Blood Red Bats Take to the Skies

We couldn?t wait until Halloween to share this spooky thermal image of bats in flight. Provided by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, this imagewas taken by Boston University researchers trying to better understand how bats navigate the air in response to weather, bug activity and climate change. According to the United State Geological Survey, bats save farmers at least $3 billion a year by scarfing down insects that would otherwise eat crops. But bats are threatened by white nose syndrome, a fungal disease that kills them, as well as by deadly collisions with wind turbines. Researchers estimate that the loss of one million bats in the Northeast alone has probably resulted in between 660 and 1320 metric tons fewer insects being eaten by bats each year. Now that s scarier than blood red bats any day.