MIDLAND, Texas —
People across West Texas as of late have been seeing a lot more bat activity in the evenings.
Firstly, it’s a specific species of bat that’s responsible.
"Well addressing our bats, the most common bat that we have here is the Mexican Free-Tailed bats and there are places in which the female bats have maternal colonies going on," Museum Scientist at the Sibley Nature Center in Midland Michael Nickell said. "So it'd be the female bats and their offspring."
Nickell also said the bats are looking for warm places to stay and, in the evenings, go out to find food not only for themselves but for their babies as well.
Get used to seeing them flying around because we won’t see much of a change in their behavior until next year.
“Probably in the springtime the behavior will change a little bit more; they might disperse a little bit more,” Nickell said.
While some folks may not be big fans of bats, they actually play an important role in the environment and can be a great help to humans.
“Bats are one of the most beneficial of all animals because of their tremendous ability to control insect populations," Nickell said. "Some bats are pollinators as well. Different types of plants, for instance the agaves, those are bat pollinated.”
If you see a bat that’s on the ground and it seems to be struggling to get back up, Nickell says to not touch it and to contact animal control. The bat could be sick or injured and need professional help.