October is Bat Appreciation Month, and we urge every Northeast Michigander to take a few moments to give thanks for our creepy-to-some-people neighbors.

Bats, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, are the only mammals capable of sustained flight. They use echolocation to find their prey. They usually nest in forested areas near water, because that’s where insects tend to live, and bats love to eat insects.

Which brings us to our chief reason for appreciating bats: They take care of pests for us.

A typical bat will eat as many as 1,000 insects in an hour, which means that many fewer mosquitos to bite you.

If that’s not reason enough to be thankful for Michigan’s nine species of bats, we don’t know what is.

But what about the fact that many species of bats eat fruit and spread fruit seeds as they do, helping fruit trees to thrive.

To help maintain bats, the DNR encourages property owners to keep trees with loose, scrappy bark, to protect trees along waterways, to minimize the use of insecticides, which kill bat food, and to consider building a bat house on your property.

Since 2014, Michigan bats have battled white-nose syndrome. To help combat the spread of the disease, the DNR encourages Michiganders to leave bats alone if you discover them on your property and to report to the DNR any suspicious bat behavior, such as bats flying during the day when they should be hibernating from December through March.

We love our creepy little friends, and we urge you to do the same and to do what you can to protect them and help them thrive.