News
Holy battered bats! Double menace threatens farmers' helpers
The proliferation of wind power across the Midwest poses a danger to tree bats.
For reasons that remain unknown, bats are attracted to turbines that tower above tree lines. Once the migratory species is close, the pressure drop can crush their fragile lungs or they can simply get smacked by the spinning blades.
August 23, 2011
by Tim Lloyd
in Harvest Public Media
Farmer Shelly Cox and her husband rely on the mainstays of Midwest agriculture: John Deere tractor, genetically modified seeds and rich soil.
They also get extra help from what you might call nature's pest control crew - migrating bats.
"They're huge at insect control," Cox said while walking toward a small wetland where bats cluster during the summer months."How much money do you want to spend on pesticides? Or do you want to be saving money and using what Mother Nature gives us?"
Cox credits the bats that visit her family's 86-acre farm outside Savannah, Mo. as a big reason why they've... [continue via Web link]
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