To all botanists, conservationists, environmentalists, and other interested
parties:
I am writing a short essay on the agave (or century plant), the Mexican
long-nosed bat, and the Mexican tequila industry, and I was wondering if
anyone could give me any help. All three are directly related to each other.
Without relaying to you all the exact essay, I will summarize. The tequila
industry harvests the agave before it flowers to make tequila. The Mexican
long-nosed bat is a nectar-eating bat only, and the nectar of the flower of
the agave is its major food source. The agave's primary means of pollination
is the Mexican long-nosed bat population. Both species of bat and plant are
already on the endangered species list, and now both are diminishing rapidly
becasue the bats are moving on the find food and the plants are not surviving
without pollination in the wild. So humans have once again disrupted the
fragile threads by which the web of life is strung. I learned all of this on
a trip to Big Bend National Park from a ranger named Mark Herberger. Any
comments or further info would be of great help. Thank you.
Sasha Ringgenberg GreenOboe at aol.com
4213 Wandering Creek
Corpus Christi, TX 78410
