going batty for Spooky Season

By Alicia Hamilton, NextGen Council member

It’s officially Spooky Season! While everyone else is busy prepping costumes and carving pumpkins, we over at the Natural Lands NextGen Council have our eyes turned to the twilight skies for some of our absolute favorite creatures of the night: bats!

You can spot nine different species of bats regularly right here in Pennsylvania (plus a few rare southern visitors who pop in from time to time). The MVP of our local night sky is the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus).

Right around now, these tiny aerial acrobats are packing up their summer roosts and making their annual move to local caves and tunnels to hibernate until spring. And fun fact: they’re super loyal homebodies—they come back to the exact same summer roosts year after year.

To help you get into the Halloween spirit—and maybe soften any fears about our leather-winged friends—here are six marvelous facts about Pennsylvania’s native bats.

1. They are nature’s ultimate pest control.
   We love native plants and pollinators around here, but PA’s local bats aren’t here for the nectar—they’re strictly insectivores. A single bat can devour its entire body weight in insects in one night. That means far fewer mosquitoes buzzing around your late-summer bonfires. In fact, researchers estimate that bats save U.S. agriculture and landowners over $3 billion a year in pest control. Talk about putting in work!
2. No bats = no margaritas
   While PA bats stick to bugs, tropical bats elsewhere in the world are busy pollinating plants like bananas, peaches, and cloves. Even better? Bats are the primary pollinator of the agave plant! So, the next time you enjoy a cold margarita on a patio, raise your glass and give a quiet shoutout to a bat.
3. Rainforest engineers
   Fruit-eating bats in tropical regions act as nature’s seed droppers. They account for up to 95% of early seed dispersal in recently cleared rainforests, helping whole ecosystems bounce back.
4. Flapping, flying… mammals
   Did you know bats are the only mammals capable of true, sustained flight? And because they’re mammals who give birth to live pups— they have belly buttons. (How cute is that?) Another fun fact: a group of them is called a colony.
5. The real horror story: white-nose syndrome
   Pop culture makes bats out to be scary, but right now, bats are the ones in danger. Since 2006, a deadly fungal disease called white-nose syndrome has wiped out millions of bats across North America. The fungus spreads rapidly from bat to bat and cave to cave—often unintentionally carried on human shoes and gear. Once introduced, it can decimate an entire colony. Protecting sensitive bat habitats and preserving open spaces gives these species a fighting chance to recover.
6. Enjoy the evening show (from a safe distance)
   Watching bats perform dusk acrobatics as they catch dinner is an absolute treat. Always admire them from afar, never handle a wild bat with bare hands, and seek medical care right away if you ever experience a bite or scratch. While the vast majority of bats are healthy, about 1% can carry rabies.

The next time you’re heading back to your car after a visit to your favorite Natural Lands preserve, pause for a minute to look up at the tree line—you just might catch our furry little neighbors doing flips for their dinner.

Happy Spooky Season!