How much is a bat worth? Protecting these tiny insect-eaters isn’t just good for farms – their deaths cost taxpayers and the wider economy
- Written by Dale Manning, Associate Professor in Public Policy and Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Tennessee
A healthy bat hangs in a cave, resting up to eat its weight in bugs at dusk.Liz Hamrick/TVAMost Americans tend to think about bats only around Halloween, but the U.S. economy benefits from these furry flying mammals every day.
Bats pollinate plants, including many important food crops, when they stop by flowers to drink nectar. Their guano is mined...