Benefits of Bats

Bats have wingspans ranging from about 6 inches to almost 6 feet and are the only mammals that can truly fly. There are about 1500 different species of bats which accounts for approximately 20% of all mammal diversity. There are about 46 species of bats in North America and Georgia is home to 16 of them. Forsyth County is within the range of 14 of these bat species. Nine of the 16 bat species in Georgia are listed as high priorities in our State Wildlife Action Plan.

Worldwide, bats contribute to the environment as pollinators, seed dispersers, and insect predators. All of the bats in Georgia are insectivores. Insectivorous bats can eat a quarter to a half of their body weight or more each night in mosquitoes, moths, beetles and other night flying insects. Scientists estimated that bats eat enough insect pests to save U.S. farmers roughly $23 billion each year.

Bat monitoring events are more likely in the spring and summer. When we have activities which the public can attend they can be found on our Now Registering page.