A healthy population of bats helps to keep the number of insects in an ecosystem at a more manageable number.

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Brown bats in particular feed on crop damaging bugs. More bats means less agricultural pests. This saves farmers thousands of dollars in pesticides every year. Rootworms reduce corn productivity by up to thirteen percent, and the insecticides to kill rootworms cost farmers up to $25 per acre. One farmer decreased his pesticide usage by encouraging bats to roost in his barn. The number of times he sprayed pesticide went down from thirteen times a year to spraying two times a year.

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Bats also help humans in the medical field. Studies are showing that vampire bat saliva can be better at preventing blood clots in stroke victims than some current medications.

 

Even bat poop has proven itself to be useful to humans! Bat poop, called guano, is a great fertilizer for plants because it is rich in nitrogen. Recently, the enzymes within bat guano were studied by scientists. They found that it helped tremendously as a cleaning agent in laundry detergent.

 

Still, who cares about a fungus killing bats? You should.