The fringe-lipped bat eats a lot of things, from insects to small vertebrates, and sometimes even other bats. But it is most noted for feeding on frogs. It finds those frogs by listening for the loud, conspicuous calls the males produce at night to attract mates. The calls also tell these bats whether the noisy frog is poisonous or edible. ...more

The U.S. Postal Service needed 155 years (and the encouragement of BCI Member Carol Adams of Medina, Texas) to finally put pictures of bats on postage stamps. The very first were introduced in 2002. Now, just five years later, there’s a new U.S. stamp bearing the image of a lesser long-nosed bat pollinating a saguaro cactus.

The new stamp is included in the Pollinator set issued as part of National Pollinator Week, declared by Congress and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns as June 24-30. The four-stamp set, said Postmaster Yverne Pat Moore, provides “a special way to honor the beauty that is in our midst each day. ...more

Disappearing and often-dangerous water sources are putting bats and other wildlife at risk throughout America’s arid western states. But Bat Conservation International’s Water for Wildlife program is promoting “a simple solution [that] may solve this problem,” National Wildlife reports. “A few simple strategies can keep stock tanks from becoming death traps for wildlife,” BCI Founder Merlin Tuttle told the National Wildlife Federation magazine. “Ranchers and other range managers across a vast area...more