Nature Connection: Going To Bat For Bats

With Halloween celebrations only hours away, many homes, cards and costumes are decorated with images of bats. Most are barely accurate, as the scare factor is more important to the cause, which of course is the thrill of fright. Bats have long filled the dark thoughts and fears of people, and trying to counteract that is a task for conservation-minded people everywhere. Consider this your chance to join us.

Why do bats scare us so? Probably because they are creatures of the night that move quickly and in unpredictable ways. For many years people didn’t understand that bats were mostly harmless to their pets, livestock and themselves. They were creepy, and somehow this gave people permission to kill them, sometimes in large numbers when a roost was targeted and destroyed.

Bats, though well equipped with wings, are mammals. There are over 1,400 species of bats worldwide, and they range in size from quite small to rather large. Here on Cape Cod our bats are mostly small, around five or six inches, a little larger with their wings spread all the way out.

Not only do bats prefer a nocturnal lifestyle, they have some odd habits, at least from our human point of view. For one thing, they rest upside down in the dark, wings wrapped around their bodies. Up until fairly recently many assumed bats were blind, hence the saying being blind as a bat. They are not blind, it turns out, and can in fact see quite well. In spite of their often excellent eyesight, most of the bats we see in New England use echolocation to find their food. 

The bats we see here include both the aptly named little and big brown bats and the northern long-eared bat. Others we may encounter include the eastern red bat, the tri-colored (formerly the eastern pipistrelle) bat, the silver haired bat, the seldom seen but large hoary bat, and the rare eastern small-footed bat. 

Bats gather in huge numbers to hibernate each fall and winter. In our area most bats head to western Massachusetts, where they settle into caves and old mines. Unfortunately, the fungal disease called white-nose syndrome has infiltrated many of these areas and over half our bat populations have died as a result. In some areas it is almost 90 percent of the population. 

Bats mate in the fall, but the female does not become impregnated until the spring, being able to store sperm in her uterus until the time is appropriate for hosting a fetus. Most bats only have one baby, though some may have two. In the spring the females gather in large nursing colonies where they give birth and raise their young. After three or four weeks, the young will begin to make short flights and catch their first food on their own. Adult males, in the meantime, go about their business alone or in small groups, often roosting in trees.

Occasionally a bat will come to visit in a home, often causing distress far greater than the actual threat. The best way to move the bat along is to close all doors to isolate the bat and then open the windows. Striking at it with a broom can cause serious or fatal injury and is not recommended. The exception to this rule is if it is known that someone was bitten. In that case, only handle the dead bat with heavy gloves and contact Massachusetts Fish and Wildlife. Not all bats are rabid, but it is good to check in the very rare instance of a known bite. Bats have very tiny teeth and rarely bite humans, so this shouldn’t cause much concern.

Bats may roost in your garage or attic. There are ways to avoid this, and I don’t recommend killing them to remove them. Wait until they migrate and then do what needs to be done to prevent their return. Mostly bats will roost in trees during the summer months, coming out only at dusk or in the dark. Watching bats hunt for insects on a clear night over a field or near a pond can be very entertaining and a reminder that our ground-based way of life is far from the only way.

Bats eat thousands of insects in their lifetimes. They are especially fond of moths and mosquitoes and are good neighbors.

As Halloween comes near, it’s a good time to remind our children, our neighbors, our parents, and even elementary school teachers that bats may appear scary, but they are in fact amazing creatures that help us a lot. Not only do they eat tons of insects, but many are amazing pollinators as well. Most of our local bats have probably left for western Massachusetts by now, but if you happen to see one, give them a wink and a wave of thanks. They’ve earned it.