2001 American Bats Commemorative Stamps Sheet of 20 - 37 Cents - MNH

The American Bats commemorative stamps feature photographs of four different types of bats that live in the continental United States: the red bat, the pallid bat, the spotted bat, and the leaf-nosed bat. Of approximately 950 bat species in the world, 45 species are found in North America. The only true flying mammals, bats have long been feared and misunderstood, but are actually beneficial to humans. Bats help balance populations of night-flying insects, including mosquitoes and pests that cost farmers billions of dollars annually. Bats are vital to the pollination of desert plants in the American Southwest. Contrary to popular myth, bats are not blind, and many have superb night vision. Also contrary to myth, contracting rabies from bats is extremely remote and studies have shown that bats accounted for an average of only 1.5 human deaths annually during the past 20 years in the United States and Canada combined.