It’s Bat Week – a time to celebrate the role of bats in nature and all these amazing creatures do for us. 🦇

From providing essential pest control to pollinating our plants, bats are the unsung heroes of the night. Pictured here is the small but mighty lesser long-nosed bat, which is key to maintaining fragile desert ecosystems by pollinating both the saguaro cactus and agave (which is used to make tequila). It’s also a conservation success story. In 1988, there were fewer than 1,000 of these nectar-feeding bats, but today, there are an estimated 200,000 bats at 75 roosts in the Southwest and Mexico. Learn more about some of the different bat species in the United States: https://on.doi.gov/2JfdGmS. Photo by National Park Service.