Bracken Cave Bats Trigger Radar

Mass emergences of free‑tailed bats at Bracken Cave create Doppler‑radar echoes that look like large thunderstorms, confusing weather viewers and automated feeds. The phenomenon also represents a gigantic, nightly ecosystem service: up to ~20 million bats range hundreds of miles and consume well over 100 tons of insects during the summer peak. — This connects conservation and agricultural pest control to tech design and public information: misread radar can mislead citizens and apps, while the bats' ecological role has economic and policy implications for land use and species protection.