Vampire bats are moving closer to Texas. Here’s why that’s actually a good thing

Bats. A staple in every Halloween movie, these blood-thirsty creatures are a not-so-subtle sign that danger is lurking beneath the shadows. But, what if they’re just misunderstood? What if they’re not so scary, after all?

With more bat species than any other state, Texas could soon be adding another of the spooky variety. The vampire bat is moving toward the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas, Texas Parks and Wildlife experts say. While they’re mainly found in Mexico and Central and South America, their habitat has been expanding north into the U.S. at about 50 miles a year over the past decade.

“They are currently not in Texas, but seem to be slowly moving closer to the state,” Jonah Evans, nongame and rare species program leader at Texas Parks and Wildlife, told the Star-Telegram.

Mike Bodenchuk, Texas State Director at the USDA, said they could possibly even be in Texas already.

“The common vampire bat is moving northward from Mexico, it’s approaching the tip of Texas. In fact, there are some vampire bat rabies cases in Nuevo Leon that are farther north than the bottom three counties in Texas,” Bodenchuk said. “So we’ve got the population moving that direction and I would be surprised if they’re not really already here. We just don’t have any confirmation of that, we haven’t had any rabies cases that we can tie directly to the vampire bat. But they’re expanding their range northward and could already be in the state.”

Over the next ten years, they could reach only as far north as San Antonio, Bodenchuk said.

“A lot of that we attribute to changes in climate. As the temperature grade warms, these species are allowed to move farther north, they also move farther up the mountains,” Bodenchuk said. “Twenty years ago, you never saw vampire bats in Mexico above 7000 feet, now we’re finding them above 7000 feet.”

The good, the bad and the ugly

There are concerns about vampire bats moving into the state, specifically the health of livestock the bats feed on. In Mexico, vampire bats cause about $47 million a year in damages through livestock predation and public health risk concerns, according to the Texas Farm Bureau. The Texas Department of State Health Services is monitoring cases of rabies in animals caused by bat feeding, which could help the Lone Star State handle a potential vampire bat spread.

Since the vampire bat has been detected as close as 35-40 miles south of the Texas-Mexico border, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has increased its surveillance. Bodenchuk goes to livestock auctions and looks for signs of vampire bats feeding on horses and cattle: scars around the back of their ears, at the base of their tail or on their heel and dripping blood or dry blood down their side. His team inspects anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand livestock a day.

Having more of the warm-blooded animals could benefit Texas in various ways. A factor in vampire bats’ saliva, called Draculin, prevents blood clots from forming and may soon be used to treat conditions like hypertension, heart failure and strokes. Studying vampire bats can even help predict and prevent the next pandemic. Other bats patrol farms using echolocation to catch insect prey and help save farmers billions in pest control. They protect crops and save U.S. agriculture up to $53 billion per year, according to the Texas Farm Bureau.

“Bats are absolutely beneficial to have around,” said Rachel Richter, DFW urban wildlife biologist at Texas Parks and Wildlife. “Almost all of the bat species that we have in Texas are insectivores and some of them are quite voracious with how many bugs they’ll eat. They provide a huge service to us by getting rid of bugs. Not only is that less crop loss, but it’s also less pesticide that farmers have to put onto food in order to control those crop pests that bats will remove for free for us.”

In Texas, bats eat enough insects to save producers over $1.4 billion annually in pest control costs. Free-tailed bats in South Central Texas save farmers up to $1.7 million a year. In a 2006 study, cotton growers saved $74 per acre in pesticide treatments across eight Texas counties. Later research found bats save corn farmers over $1 billion annually in earworm control.

Several issues threaten the future of U.S. bat populations, which could in turn leave farmers without needed pest control. White Noise Syndrome, which first appeared in 2006, has killed about 6 million bats. In North Texas, the fungus was first documented in 2017.

“It was first detected in Texas a few years ago, and then just recently we actually started seeing bats exhibiting the disease,” Richter said.

But the biggest threat to bats is habitat loss, she said. Reducing pesticide use and leaving dead trees standing can help. Richter said “protecting our natural habitats here in North Texas is the best thing that we can do to help bats.”

Where to see bats in Texas

With Texas bat season soon drawing to a close as it gets colder, animal lovers might want to take a trip to see them. Texas has one of the most diverse bat populations in the U.S. Millions of bats can be found in the state’s caves, trees, bridges, abandoned mines and even in buildings.

Thirty-two of the 47 species of U.S. bats make a home in Texas. In Dallas-Fort Worth, home to 10 bat species, many including the eastern red bat, hoary bat, evening bat and tricolored bat roost on trees. Elsewhere, in areas like Bracken Cave Preserve in San Antonio and Waugh Drive Bridge in Houston, Mexican free-tailed bats (Texas’ most common bat) have huge colonies. And one of Austin’s tourist attractions is its 1.5 million free-tailed bats, which can be seen in places like Congress Avenue Bridge, making the city an estimated $10 million annually. The greatest diversity of bat species can be found in West Texas.

The expected emergence time can vary, so be sure to double-check before visiting a site. Don’t shine any brights lights on the nocturnal mammals, and bring binoculars to get a closer look, Richter recommends.

While it’s less likely to see large numbers in North Texas, you might see them in parking garages and other such spaces. When you do encounter a bat, keep a safe distance, Richter cautions. If you see a bat on the ground or out in the daytime, it may be sick, so be sure not to touch it and call animal control or a wildlife rehabilitator.

Three bat species in DFW can use bat houses. If you’d like to attract more bats, you can install a bat house using installation guidelines from Bat Conservation International. You need around 20 to 30 feet of open space somewhere with at least six hours of sun. You want the bat house to be at least 24 by 16 inches wide and at least 12 to 20 feet off the ground.