What a horrifying article. I am so sad at the thought of all those bats falling dead. I have always thought bats were kind of cute and very maligned. They are surrounded by so many old wives tales and should be no more feared than any other wild creature.
I mentioned to my DH, while reading the article, how many mosquitoes are eaten by bats. To which he replied "well so do purple martins." Yeah they do, but they also eat bees. I've been on a mission to get people to modify the ridiculous numbers of purple martin houses I see around here every summer, because of the threat to bees. I'm not trying to threaten the martins, just let people be aware that they aren't in any danger and the bees are.
So far I haven't noticed any decline in bat numbers around me, but it's probably just a matter of time. Thanks, Lisa, for bringing it to our attention.