My latest in <em>This Land</em>: 

A single bat represents one out of every four or five mammals on earth. The Mexican free-tailed bat is the speedster of the 1,000 species on earth, known to cut through the air at the same rate as the yellow lines of a freeway vanishing into a rearview mirror. But the size of their colonies, the largest of which can top the population of New York City twice over, form a huge target. When humans pave the way for things like farms, shopping malls, and cave tours, bat habitat is destroyed. And then there are the flying insects, laced with agricultural pesticides. A nursing, migratory Mexican free-tailed bat can eat its weight in them each night.

Read more  at This Land. 
