Please see the attached website. Bat Week 2016
is October 25-31, and there is a push this year to host invasive plant pulls to
help improve habitat and food availability for bats and other wildlife.
Bats in all parts of the country eat lots of different insects, many of which
rely on native plants, and bats live in all sorts of habitats. Invasive
plants can reduce insect diversity and clog up the flyways bats use to travel
and hunt. There are even some North American bats which rely on certain
cacti for nectar—conversely the cacti rely on bats for pollination.
Please consider holding a weed pull in your area during Bat
Week, and pass the word out to EPPCs and IPCs within your region.
Networking with bat researchers and Bat conservation groups is a good way to
get the word out about the harm invasive plants can cause for wildlife of all
types.
Kitty McCracken
Tennessee Invasive Plant Council, President
Ecosystem Management Coordinator
US DOE Oak Ridge Reservation
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
P.O. Box 2008, MS 6351
Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6351
865-924-4706 (office)
