wildlife

Bats are invaluable to North American ecosystems for their role in eating insects and saving plants and trees from damage and disease. But white-nose syndrome, the fast-moving fungal disease, has decimated North American bats in recent years. And habitat destruction is another threat, including from wind farms, which can wipe out bat habitat during construction and then contribute to bat losses while operating.

The second largest city in the nation is now certified wildlife habitat. The designation, made official this year by the National Wildlife Federation’s Community Wildlife Habitat program, recognizes Los Angeles as the largest city in the United States to be a wildlife-friendly city.

In honor of International Bat Week, reprinted below is an excerpt from a column Andrew Bowman wrote in 2016.

The remote camera that Land Trust of Napa County volunteers Paula Peterson and Penny Proteau visit every few months in California suggests at least one conclusion: an abundance of curious bears.