Nature hits a home run – with a bat

The weeks leading up to Halloween always produce familiar symbols on store shelves and in marketing campaigns, from carved pumpkins to witches, skeletons and bats. But experts both in government and business say bats – instead of creatures to be feared – are important in many ways.

Lauren DeRosa, owner and general manager of the Wild Birds Unlimited nature shop in Fort Collins, put it simply: “Bats are our friends!”

Colorado is home to 18 species of bats, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife is monitoring bat hibernation sites this winter for the effects of White-Nose Syndrome.