SURPRISING HABITS OF A TEACHING KIDS THAT ARE NEW EUROPEAN BATS & M OSQUITOES HEROES , NOT VILLAINS

WWW.BATCO N.ORG SPRING 2010

BBBAT CONSAAERVATIONTT INTERNASSTIONAL Volume 28, No. 1, spriNg 2010 P.O. Box 162603 , Austin, Texas 78716 BATS (512) 327-9721 • Fax (512) 327-9724

FEATURES Publications Staff Director of Publications: Robert Locke Photo Editor: Meera Banta 1 The Memo Graphic Artist: Jason Huerta Copyeditors: Angela England, Valerie Locke BATS welcomes queries from writers. Send your article proposal 2 Training for Research & Conservation with a brief outline and a description of any photos to the ad - in Latin America dress above or via email to: [email protected] . Members: Please send changes of address and all cor res - Workshops spur homegrown projects for bats pondence to the address above or via email to members@bat - con.org . Please include your label, if possible, and allow six by Christa Weise weeks for the change of address. Founder/President Emeritus: Dr. Merlin D. Tuttle Bats & Mosquitoes Executive Director: Nina Fascione 6 Board of Trustees: Testing conventional wisdom John D. Mitchell, Chair by Michael H. Reiskind and Matthew A. Wund Bert Grantges, Secretary Marshall T. Steves, Jr., Treasurer Anne-Louise Band; Eugenio Clariond Reyes; John 8 The Surprising Habits Hayes; C. Andrew Marcus; Bettina Mathis; Gary F. Mc - Cracken; Steven P. Quarles; Sandy Read; Walter C. Sedg - Of a New European Bat wick; Marc Weinberger. Advisory Trustees: Sharon R. Forsyth; Elizabeth Ames Alcathoe myotis face unique conservation challenges Jones; Travis Mathis; Wilhelmina Robertson; William by Radek K. Lu čan Scanlan, Jr.; Merlin D. Tuttle. Verne R. Read, Chairman Emeritus Scientific Advisory Board: Dr. Leslie S. Hall, Dr. Greg Richards, Bruce Thomson, 10 Heroes, Not Villains Australia; Dr. Irina K. Rakhmatulina, Azerbaijan; Dr. Education in Brazil replaces children’s fears of bats Luis F. Aguirre, Bolivia ; Dr. Wilson Uieda, Brazil; Dr. M. Brock Fenton, Canada ; Dr. Jiri Gaisler, Czech Republic; by Ana Cristina Brito dos Santos Dr. Uwe Schmidt, Germany; Dr. Ganapathy Marimuthu, Dr. Shahroukh Mistry, India; Dr. Arnulfo Moreno, Mex - NEWS AND NOTES ico; Ir. Herman Limpens, Netherlands; Dr. Armando Ro - driguez-Duran, Puerto Rico; Dr. Ya-Fu Lee, Taiwan; Dr. Denny G. Constantine, Robert Currie, Dr. Theodore H. Fleming, Dr. Thomas H. Kunz, Dr. Gary F. McCracken, 12 WNS reaches Canada, Maryland and Tennessee Dr. Don E. Wilson, United States; Dr. José R. Ochoa G., Killing bats leads to jail Venezuela. Membership Manager: Amy McCartney A world record BATS (ISSN 1049-0043) is published quarterly by Bat Con ser vation International, Inc., a nonprofit corporation If there’s a bat in my school... supported by tax-deductible contributions used for public ed - ucation, research and conservation of bats and the ecosystems Members in Action: Todd Austin: ‘The Bat Doc’ that depend on them. See the bats of Bracken Cave © Bat Conser vation International, 2010. All rights reserved. Bat Conservation International’s mission is to conserve the BCI Member Snapshot world’s bats and their ecosystems in order to ensure a healthy The Wish List planet. A subscription to BATS is included with BCI membership: Senior, Student or Educator $30; Basic $35; Friends of BCI COVER PHOTO: This greater ( Noctilio leporinus ) has just snatched $45; Supporting $60; Contributing $100; Patron $250; Sus - a minnow from the water. This is one of a number of unusual bats that are studied taining $500; Founder’s Circle $1,000. Third-class postage paid at Latin American field workshops cosponsored by BCI (story on Page 2). at Austin, Texas. Send address changes to Bat Conser vation In - © MERLIn D. TuTTLE, BCI / 0002211 ternational, P.O. Box 162603, Austin, TX 78716. THE MEMO from our EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

uring a recent trip to New Zealand, I Workshops, led by Dr. Brock Fenton, who Dhad the privilege of visiting one of that coun - now chairs the Biology Department at the try’s most important bat research projects. University of Western Ontario, Canada. The bats live in the Eglinton Valley of Fiord - Not only did the experience teach me a land National Park, right in the heart of New great deal about bats and field research, but Zealand’s famed Milford Track hiking trail. it turned me into an avid fan of this impor - The two species there – the long-tailed wa - tant taxonomic group. I have worked on tled bat ( Chalinolobus tuberculatus ) and the many meaningful wildlife-conservation lesser short-tailed bat ( Mystacina tuberculata ) programs over the years, but my passion has – are in peril due to the prevalence of non- always remained with the Chiroptera. native species. Stoats, rats and other preda - So what a joy it is to be at the helm of

©ROBERT LOCkE, BCI / 0046714 tors brought to New Zealand intentionally Bat Conservation International, focusing and unintentionally over the years prey on naive native birds and full-time on the vital task of educating people about the impor - bats. Because the native did not co-evolve with – and thus tance of bats and supporting the conservation programs of learn to avoid – these invaders, the resulting predation has devas - BCI’s dedicated and hard-working staff. I’ve known Merlin Tut - tated populations of New Zealand’s unique and rare animals. tle for years and am honored to carry on the visionary work that Researchers from New Zealand’s Department of Conserva - he began 27 years ago. tion are working hard to control these invasive species and to We have our work cut out for us. White-nose Syndrome is study the bats in order to save them. I spent an evening assisting devastating bat populations throughout the eastern United field researchers in harp-trapping and banding long-tailed bats States and continues to spread. It was just confirmed in my as part of a study to better understand their population size, home state of Maryland, the eleventh state to face the disease. habitat use and distribution trends. As New Zealand’s only na - But there are also exciting programs ripe for growth at BCI, tive , bats are vital to the ecology and history of that such as our field workshops in Latin America, our efforts to pro - island country. tect bats in caves and mines across the United States, our artifi - It was wonderful to be involved in bat research again. My cial-roosts program and many, many more. We can’t do this love of bats began many years ago, while working at the work without the support of our dedicated members, so I thank Philadelphia Zoo in the mid-1980s. During that time, I at - you for your own interest in helping bats. Together, we can tended one of BCI’s first Bat Conservation and Management make a difference for these magnificent animals.

Nina Fascione

Volume 28, No. 1 SPRING 2010 1 BATS TRAINING FOR RESEARCH & C ONSERVATION IN LATIN AMERICA 0 1 2 2 0 0 0

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projects for bats © by Christa Weise The greater bulldog bat, such as this one skimming the water to snare a , was one of a number of unusual bats captured and examined during a workshop in Nicaragua.

ading through the knee-deep water, we stretched our mist nets over and alongside the Escameca River in southwestern Nicaragua to capture tropical bats that fly out of the dense rainforest each night to forage. We especially hoped to net greater bulldog bats ( Noctilio leporinus ) – one of the few species of fishing bats. These W ©CHRIsTA WEIsE, BCI / / 0046718 bats have long legs and enormous claws that rake the water to snatch small fish swimming near the surface. We were fortunate that evening: among the bats of many species that appeared in our nets were several of the large, but re - markably gentle, greater bulldog bats. We identified, ex - amined and discussed these unusual mammals, then released them to continue their fishing. The group clustered alongside the river included 15 students who came from five Central American countries for an International Bat Research and Conservation Work - shop, organized by Bat Conservation International and its partners, especially the U.S. Forest Service International Programs. Conducted in Spanish, this six-day session in January 2009 was adapted in part from BCI’s popular and long-running U.S. workshops and planned as a pilot proj - ect. Our goal was to evaluate its potential for building firm foundations on which self-sustaining bat-conservation pro - grams can be nurtured in threatened tropical forests of Latin America, where bat biologists are sometimes scarce. Participants at the January 2009 International Bat Research and Con - We chose Nicaragua for this pilot workshop because of servation Workshop in Nicaragua gathered for a class photo at Volcan its ecological diversity, with tropical forests, mountains, Pa - Masaya National Park. Many of them already are working on bat cific and Atlantic coastal regions and active volcanoes, and research, education and conservation in their home countries.

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because the country is home to 94 of the 176 known bat species in Mesoamerica. As , E s in much of Central America, Nicaragua’s forests are being rapidly converted to agri - I E W

culture, with a dramatic loss of habitat. The need for conservation action is urgent. A T s I

This trial run was an outstanding success, both in the reviews from students R H C and instructors and in the post-workshop conservation work of our students. BCI © and its partners have since conducted similar workshops in Paraguay and Mexico, with others planned in the near future. Students from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica were taught at the initial workshop by six experienced instructors: Bernal Rodriguez of Costa Rica, an enthusiastic expert on Central American bats and their ecology; Sybill Amelon and Ted Weller of the U.S. Forest Service, both adept at using acoustic monitoring systems; Richard LaVal, a renowned U.S. bat biologist who’s now retired but active in Costa Rica; Kimberley Williams-Guillén, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Michigan who has studied bats in Nicaragua; and me, as Coordinator of BCI’s Bats of Latin America & the Caribbean Program. During each day, intensive training gave participants a solid background on re - search methods, conservation and management of bats through Spanish-language lectures by all six instructors. At night, students received practical field experience in assessing habitat, humane bat-capture techniques, identification and acoustic monitoring. Daytime field exercises provided hands-on lessons in the use of a variety of capture equipment and in the intricacies of radiotracking bats tagged with minia - ture transmitters. Instructor Rodriguez, an authority on bat roosts and tent-making bats, explained Workshop students collect mustached bats bats’ different types of tent construction and how to find bat tents and other roosts. from a harp trap set in front of a cave We surveyed caves, with an emphasis on identifying evidence of past use by bats. entrance. The session provided hands-on After each full day of instruction, we took to the field at dusk for hours of capturing experience with a variety of humane bat- and identifying bats and learning the use of bat detectors and other tools. capture techniques. We ultimately captured bats of 30 species, nearly a third of all bat species in the

©CHRIsTA WEIsE, BCI / 0046725 Instructor Richard LaVal, a U.S. bat biologist now living in Costa Rica, delivers a wrap-up lecture on the final day of the Nicaragua workshop. Daily classwork reviewed research methods, as well as bat conservation and management, in preparation for each night’s fieldwork.

Volume 28, No. 1 SPRING 2010 3 BATS COuRTEsy Of JIM RORABAugH These California leaf-nosed bats ( Macrotus californicus ) roosting in an old ranch building were examined by participants at a Spanish-language workshop on the Northern Jaguar Reserve in Sonora, Mexico, in April 2009. country, and documented additional species through acoustic tures, but, after seeing captured bats up close, that fear was re - monitoring. We were fortunate enough to capture a hairy- placed by fascination and appreciation. legged vampire bat ( Diphylla ecaudata ), which even many of the As our Latin American workshops continue, we are tailoring instructors had never held in hand before. Unlike the much- each session to the diversity and needs of the host country. They maligned common vampire bat, this species is thought to subsist bring together bat specialists from the United States and Latin on the blood of birds and causes no apparent problems for live - America as instructors and provide unique learning and net - stock and people. working opportunities that benefit both students and teachers. One year after our Nicaragua workshop, the bat-conserva - These programs are desperately needed to raise interest and tion payoff is becoming clear: at least nine participants are un - develop skills among potential scientists and conservationists in dertaking bat projects in their own countries or working with regions with great bat diversity and grave threats. In many of studies on bats. Cristian Craker is studying bat diversity on these countries, or in regions within them, there literally are no landscapes dominated by coffee plantations, as well as vampire local experts on bat research or conservation. Students with an bats in cattle-dominated areas. He’s also working to establish a interest in bats often find nowhere to turn for training, advice bat-conservation organization in Guatemala, as Jonathan and support. Delmer is doing in Honduras. Ana Patricia Calderon is con - Guatemalan student Ana Patricia Calderon says the work - ducting research into the disturbance of protected areas, while shops provide “a great opportunity for Central American planning a genetic study of bats in Guatemala. Alban Jiménez students and professionals to obtain knowledge that we couldn't is providing community education in natural areas of obtain in our own countries. Without a doubt this is very Guanacaste, Costa Rica, where he recently held a three-day bat valuable to us.” workshop for children in the third through sixth grades. For The workshops we organize through our partnerships are most of these youngsters, this was their first close encounter free to participants, except for a small fee to reserve their place, with nature. They learned about the ecological and economic and they are conducted entirely in Spanish. Our aim is to ensure benefits of bats and the need for their conservation. Jiménez that this vital experience is accessible to those with the interest reports that the children initially feared bats as mysterious crea - and potential, but who would be unable to receive training be -

BATS 4 SPRING 2010 Volume 28, No. 1 cause of language barriers or prohibitive costs. habitats throughout Latin America. The workshop itself is but the first step in the process, pro - CHRISTA WEISE is the Coordinator of Bat Conservation Inter - viding students with technical skills, as well as offering the op - national’s Bats of Latin America and the Caribbean Program. portunity to get to know experts in various areas of bat research and conservation. These personal contacts can be a crucial We are currently working with the local nonprofit group, Fun - source of advice and collaboration that continues long after dacion Chimbilako, to obtain support for a workshop in Colombia everyone returns from the field. in response to a request from the Colombian National Park Service The hope of all the partners is that self-sustaining initiatives for training on the research and conservation of bats on parklands. will be built upon the foundations laid by these workshops. We We also hope to arrange a follow-up training session for key students foresee continuing conservation efforts and international col - from the Nicaragua workshop, with a focus on building and lead - laborations for research, education and conservation throughout ing a bat-conservation organization. the region. Bringing the right people together and giving them Your help can make these and other Latin American workshops the knowledge and opportunities to find their own strategies a reality. Please support this crucial program at can make a huge difference for the conservation of bats and their www.batcon.org/donate .

©CHRIsTA WEIsE, BCI / 0046729 ©CHRIsTA WEIsE, BCI / 0046720 Left: Students from the Universidad de Sonora measure a bat captured during a workshop spon - sored by BCI, Naturalia and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Northern Jaguar Reserve at Sonora, Mexico. Right: A hairy-legged vampire bat was captured during the Nicaragua workshop.

BCI gratefully acknowledges its key partners and colleagues, whose sup - port and assistance made these Latin American workshops possible.

Partners Bernal Rodriguez (Universidad de Costa Rica) U.S. Forest Service International Programs Kimberly Williams-Guillén (University of Michigan) USAID Nicaragua Richard LaVal (Bat Jungle, Costa Rica) Paso Pacifico Rodrigo Medellín (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México ) Comision Nacional de Areas Naturales Protegidas (Mexico) Luis Aguirre (Bolivian Bat Conservation Program) Gerardo Carreon (Naturalia A.C.) And these key individuals and their organizations: Erin Fernandez, Jim Rorabaugh, Scott Richardson (U.S. Fish and Ted Weller, Sybill Amelon (U.S. Forest Service) Wildlife Service)

Volume 28, No. 1 SPRING 2010 5 BATS BBAATTSS && MM OOSSQQUUIITTOOEESS

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by Michael H. Reiskind and Matthew A. Wund

osquitoes are among the most de - spised of insects, with remarkably few re - deeming qualities. While they are certainly Mannoying intruders at backyard cookouts, mosquitoes are also responsible for at least 3 percent of all deaths worldwide, prima - rily through the transmission of malaria in the tropics. Americans face periodic (and less lethal) epidemics of such mosquito- borne pathogens as West Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus and others. So knowing that bats eat mosquitoes should make bat conservation a lot easier. It turns out, however, that it’s not quite so

simple. COuRTEsy Of MICHAEL REIskInD The importance of bats as predators of mosquitoes and their potential to reduce mosquito-related disease

have been suggested often in the past, but many scientists dismiss COuRTEsy Of MICHAEL REIskInD such claims. The skepticism stems mainly from studies of bat diets. Northern myotis ( top photo ) were captured and studied in While research shows that many bats will indeed eat mosquitoes, outdoor flight cages ( above) in experiments designed to test it also suggests that mosquitoes constitute only a small proportion their ability to help control female mosquitoes that can spread of a bat’s diet. disease ( inset) . Researchers Thomas Chappell ( left) and This debate over bats’ impact on mosquito populations has Matthew Wund flank the flight cage.

BATS 6 SPRING 2010 Volume 28, No. 1 been conducted for years with little empirical evidence on either distant between the two enclosures. This unenclosed container side. Our experimental research now provides initial estimates allowed us to measure egg-laying rates at each site, independent of bats’ potential impact on mosquito vectors of disease – and of the enclosure treatments. should, we hope, give new ammunition to those working to During June, we also placed artificial habitats directly out - conserve the world’s bats. side the cages (as well as inside). If egg laying was reduced in Female mosquitoes are the villains here, since only females these containers, it would suggest that mosquitoes were avoiding spread disease by feeding on blood – and they are ideal disease areas with bats, rather than just disappearing because they were vectors. Female mosquitoes emerge from an aquatic larval stage, being eaten. mate and then feed on blood to support their egg production. Every morning for three weeks in June and three in July, we This initial blood meal is generally their first opportunity to counted the number of egg clutches laid in the containers by k u L

n pick up a disease-causing pathogen. Next, they lay eggs in an naturally occurring female mosquitoes. We released bats into E H

P appropriate aquatic habitat, then feed on blood again to develop the bat enclosure on 18 separate nights. E T s another clutch of eggs. They repeat the blood meals and egg We found that significantly fewer egg clutches were laid in ©

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T laying until their death after a few weeks. Pathogens are trans - enclosures with bats than in enclosures without them. There O H P mitted during the second and subsequent blood feedings, which were, in fact, 32 percent fewer egg clutches in the bat enclosures suggests that attacking mosquito populations at the point of egg than in controls. This reduction occurred only within flight laying would be an efficient means of limiting disease transmis - cages and not in containers just outside the enclosures, confirm - sion. ing that female mosquitoes were present and that the bats were Previous studies of predation on adult mosquitoes have eating many of those that entered the cages. This observation mostly been limited to “sit-and-wait predators,” such as spiders, also suggests that mosquitoes do not alter their egg-laying be - geckos and frogs. Active predators, such as bats, have not been havior in the presence of bats. well studied, despite the popular assumption that bats limit The number of egg clutches in the same enclosures was re - mosquito populations. A lack of systematic investigation means duced by 31 percent on nights when bats were present com - that we simply do not know if bats can actually fill this role. pared to when they were not released into the flight cage. A We decided to explore this issue as graduate students at the final comparison found no difference in egg clutches between University of Michigan, where one of us (Reiskind) studied the control and bat enclosures on nights when bats were not re - mosquito ecology, while the other (Wund) investigated bat be - leased. These two comparisons demonstrate that the presence havior. Our task required a balance between field-condition re - of bats is the only factor that explains the reduction of egg alism and experimental control. Our results provide the first clutches. measurement of how bats can, in fact, limit mosquito popula - We offer this first empirical study of the important question: tions by preying on egg-laying females. While the question of Do bats help limit mosquitoes? We hope it will not be the last. whether bats are an important part of natural mosquito control Our research design obviously was not a perfect reflection remains open, we view our work as an important first step in of reality. The use of enclosed bats presents an artificially high determining how bats might limit the transmission of mos - bat density, although we chose a species that forages intensively quito-borne diseases. in dense habitats. Likewise, the use of a highly attractive habitat Our previous research had suggested that the mosquito for egg-laying mosquitoes is probably somewhat outside the Culex restuans , a carrier of the West Nile virus, could be readily normal realm. What we have demonstrated, however, is that attracted to a specific artificial aquatic habitat – a plastic tub given a high density of bats and a high density of mosquitoes, filled with water and decaying hay – to lay their eggs. These the conventional wisdom may very well be accurate: bats can mosquitoes always lay “clutches” of between 75 and 200 eggs reduce mosquito populations. glued into a raft that floats on the water surface. Our artificial We hope our results stimulate other researchers to creatively habitats attracted as many as 520 egg clutches in a single tackle the question of bats’ role in controlling mosquitoes and evening. We tapped this behavior to bring large numbers of nat - reducing disease transmission by them. Just as importantly, we urally occurring mosquitoes into contact with bats inside out - hope that our work gives new power to the argument that bats door flight cages. are essential allies in controlling pests and maintaining healthy We trapped northern myotis ( Myotis septentrionalis ) from a ecosystems. colony in northern Michigan and built field enclosures using PVC pipe and plastic landscape netting with quarter-inch (6.35 MICHAEL H. REISKIND is an Assistant Professor at the Depart - mm) mesh. This allowed mosquitoes and other flying insects to ment of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Oklahoma State Uni - enter the enclosures, but prevented bats from escaping. Each versity at Stillwater. His research focuses on mosquitoes as disease enclosure was approximately 105 cubic feet (3 cubic meters). vectors. MATTHEW A. WUND is an evolutionary biologist and At each of three sites in a nature preserve in southeastern Michi - Assistant Professor at The College of New Jersey.

gan, we placed two enclosures about 165 feet (50 meters) apart. Over two months (June and July 2004), we randomly des - This research was originally published as “Experimental assess - ignated one enclosure at each site the “bat” enclosure and the ment of the impact of the northern long-eared bat on oviposit - other the “control” and placed one of the artificial egg-laying ing Culex (Ditpera: Culicidae) mosquitoes” in the Journal of habitats in each one. A third, identical habitat was placed equi - Medical Entomology , September 2009, 46(5): 1037-1044.

Volume 28, No. 1 SPRING 2010 7 BATS COuRTEsy Of RADEk Lu čAn THE SURPRISING HABITS OFANEW EUROPEAN BAT

Alcathoe myotis face unique

conservation challenges The Alcathoe myotis, which was recognized as a distinct species in 2001, presents unusual chal - by Radek K. Lu čan lenges for conservationists.

he Alcathoe myotis had, until 2001, been enfolded within an - radiotracking and DNA analysis to study three Alcathoe popu - other European species, the widespread Eurasian whiskered my - lations in widely separated regions in the eastern, western and otis ( Myotis mystacinus ), a common and versatile bat that faces southern areas of the Czech Republic. Tfew pervasive threats. My first-ever intensive ecological study of The IUCN reports that the more well-known Eurasian Alcathoes, however, reveals this to be a rare and highly special - whiskered myotis is found in forests, woodland edges, open ized bat whose roosting and foraging behavior is in many ways meadows, steppes and semi-desert habitats and is often seen in unique among European myotis. Most current conservation parks, gardens and villages. Its varied roosts include trees and strategies for tree bats in Europe likely offer scant protection for buildings. Our results in the Czech Republic suggest such adapt - Alcathoes. If these critical differences are not considered in con - ability is not at all present in Alcathoes, with their very specific servation and forest-management decisions, this remarkable needs and apparent disdain for human-made structures. species could be at great risk. We set mist nets near a variety of water sources in forested Our work, supported in part by a Bat Conservation Interna - areas, ultimately capturing 83 Alcathoe myotis, as confirmed tional Student Research Scholarship, found only isolated “islands” by DNA samples. These included 42 males and 39 females of Alcathoe ( Myotis alcathoe ) populations scattered thinly around (both adults and juveniles), plus two bats of unknown gender. the nation. In every case, however, they were roosting high in the In obtaining these 83 Alcathoes, our nets captured nearly 2,000 canopies of old-growth oak-and-hornbeam forests. Such wood - bats of other species. Alcathoe, it seems, is found in few places, lands have become increasingly scarce throughout Europe, yet and even then it is rare. these bats appear to depend on these forests exclusively. We attached miniature radio transmitters to 16 bats in Alcathoe, although very similar in appearance to Eurasian 2007-08 and tracked them for a total of 91 bat-days to examine whiskered myotis and Brandt’s myotis ( M. brandtii ), was reclas - roosting and foraging behavior. With radiotracking and visual sified as its own species based primarily on differences in its observation, we identified 28 Alcathoe roosting sites, all but one DNA and echolocation calls. Very spotty records indicate that of them in trees, with oaks most common. (Prior to this work, its known range reaches from northern Spain and France to only one roost, a tree, had been reported for this species.) The Germany, southern Poland and Greece. We confirmed the first only non-tree roost was a hollow concrete utility pole with an evidence of reproducing populations in the Czech Republic. opening for access about 23 feet (7 meters) high. Twenty-three Our continuing ecological research combines mist-netting, Alcathoe myotis used this roost in July 2008.

BATS 8 SPRING 2010 Volume 28, No. 1 All of the tree roosts that we were able to inspect with binoc - for the species. ulars were long, narrow fissures in tree trunks or large side Conserving the dwindling numbers of the large, aging trees branches. They were located at an average height of 54 feet that Alcathoes require in broadleaf forests is vital for this task, (16.5 meters) above the ground. The trees chosen for Alcathoe as is the protection of forested corridors that can provide path - roosts had many more dead branches (usually 25 to 75 percent ways for bats to move among these surviving pockets of wood - of all branches) than typical trees in the surrounding forests. land habitat. We have already succeeded in implementing these Observing evening emergences at 14 roost trees, counts ranged management practices at our study area in the Kostelecky Forest from 1 to 83 bats. Confirming a colony of more than 80 bats, in the eastern region of the Czech Republic. even though most were much smaller, is significant, since almost all previous reports of Alcathoe myotis have noted only one or very few individuals. In autumn, the Czech roosts were consistently limited to very small groups or even a single bat. This pattern, at least, is similar to that of other European forest bats, including whiskered myotis, which form large maternity colonies in June and July, then disperse into small-group or solitary roosts. No winter record of Alcathoe myotis was available until 2009, when a single individual was found hibernating in a mine in Germany. Hibernating at underground sites may be unusual for this species, however, since hundreds of mines are routinely surveyed each year in Central Europe, and only this one Al - cathoe has ever been reported. We also surveyed more than 150 potential roosts in build - ings, mostly houses and cottages, during three summers in re - gions where Alcathoes were found. We confirmed 17 roosts of whiskered and/or Brandt’s myotis, most of them behind opened window shutters. But we found no Alcathoe myotis during this intensive survey, suggesting that the species apparently does not roost in buildings, although the utility-pole roost suggests at least some artificial structures might prove acceptable. Microscopic analysis of insect remnants in Alcathoe drop - pings revealed a broad range of prey. Midges and crane flies ap - pear most often, while other frequently encountered prey COuRTEsy Of RADEk Lu čAn included spiders, caddis flies, and lacewings. Our radio - tracked bats foraged mostly high in the forest canopy, as well as Radek Lu čan hoists a radiotracking antenna high into the crown of a tree in search for the precise location of a roosting crevice in cluttered and uncluttered spaces above bodies of water. All used by Alcathoe myotis. this suggests a foraging strategy that combines slow but maneu - verable flight amid treetops along with aerial pursuit of swarm - ing insects in open areas, and perhaps even gleaning (snatching RADEK LU ČAN is now on the Faculty of Science, Department prey from surfaces such as foliage). of Zoology at Charles University in Prague, the Czech Republic, This rare and fascinating species appears to be strictly a and an official of the Czech Bat Conservation Trust. canopy-dwelling forest bat, in contrast to related species that choose their roosts much closer to the ground. These results Acknowledgements strongly suggest that Alcathoe myotis are limited to a single The author gratefully acknowledges his colleagues in this re - habitat: old, well-preserved oak-hornbeam forests at low to mid- search: Michal Andreas, Petr Benda, Tomáš Bartoni čka, Tereza elevations. That restriction probably explains its patchwork dis - Březinová, Anna Hoffmannová, Št ěpánka Hulová, Pavel Hulva, tribution in scattered population islands – and dramatically Jana Necká řová, Antonín Reiter, Tomáš Sva čina, Martin Šálek increases the need for focused conservation. Such forests survive and Ivan Horá ček; plus Tereza Králová, Vladimír Hanzal and almost exclusively as fragments in central Europe now, and even the Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection those fragments are disappearing. of the Czech Republic for providing GIS data and Magdaléna Alcathoe myotis clearly requires considerable conservation Kubešová for help with fieldwork. These research results were effort, with an emphasis on the management and preservation initially published in Acta Chiropterologica . of its old-growth habitat. Where we found Alcathoe myotis, we also documented especially rich diversity, with up to 16 other BCI’s Student Research Scholarship Program supports critical re - bat species recorded at the same sites. The results of this research search by talented young scientists around the world. To help prepare are being provided to conservation and forest-management of - tomorrow’s leaders in bat research and conservation, please help with ficials in the Czech Republic in hopes of improving protection these scholarships at www.batcon.org/donatescholarships.

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Education in Brazil replaces © children’s fears of bats by Ana Cristina Brito dos Santos

Male and female great fruit bats ( Artibeus literatus ) guard a pup. These bats are among at least 164 bat species in Brazil.

hen we first brought our Projeto Mamíferos Voadores – the Flying Mammals Project – to schools in Alagoas, Brazil, we asked the children what they thought about bats. The results of our survey were not en - Wcouraging: the consensus among these 5- to 12-year-olds was that bats are evil blood-drinkers that inhabit dark and sinister caves, useless crea - tures that should be eradicated. A year later, after classroom lectures, bat-education games, hands-on activities, demonstrations and discussions, almost all of the 2,250 young - sters we encountered had discovered that bats are not villains, but heroes of nature – invaluable neighbors that pollinate plants and disperse seeds that are essential for keeping our forests healthy and growing. This highly productive project in bat education and conservation was supported by a grant from the BCI Global Grassroots Conservation Fund. The Amanaié Foundation for Environmental Action, in partner - ship with the Federal University of Alagoas and Quântica Technical School and Research Center, developed and presented this bat-educa - tion program at 10 schools throughout Alagoas state on the northeast - ern coast of Brazil. Bats are extraordinarily important to Brazil’s forest ecosystems, which are under continuing threat from commercialization and urbanization. Among an assortment of games, puzzles and other The many seed-dispersing bats especially are vital for the regeneration of activities for kids, the Flying Mammals Project of Alagoas, cleared forestlands. More than 164 species of bats account for approxi - Brazil, developed this colorful brochure – Help Protect mately 30 percent of all species in Brazil, yet a pervasive lack of Bats – that features bat species of the region.

BATS 10 SPRING 2010 Volume 28, No. 1 public knowledge of bats and their value is the greatest single bar - at least a few new soldier-ambassadors for conservation. rier to their conservation throughout the country. Our schoolchildren clearly began to appreciate bats, not just Our goal in this project was to work with schoolchildren as as the only mammals that can fly, but as wonderfully useful an - a key step in reaching families and communities with the facts imals that live in colonies that can seem like well-organized to refute the countless, damaging myths about bats. This dis - communities. The children learned how bats serve human com - tressing public perception of bats stems in Brazil, as in most munities by eating pesky insects, pollinating plants whose flow - countries, from folklore, stories, movies and books that present ers bloom at night and sowing seeds so the forests can grow. bats as vicious, disease-ridden villains. A majority of the children These kids even learned to identify some of the bat species and questioned in our initial survey were convinced that “bats trans - habitats around their hometowns. form into rats when they get old.” It doesn’t help that Hal - Our efforts, meanwhile, were described in very positive and loween is becoming increasingly popular in Brazil, with bats informative terms in several newspaper and magazine articles, often getting a starring role as vampires. as well as two television broadcasts and two radio interviews After identifying the specific misperceptions among Alagoas around the state. youngsters, we built a strategy and designed educational mate - Ten university students who participated in this bat-education rials and activities to demystify these remarkable animals and program received college credit for their training and activities overcome the prejudices – while the kids are having fun. We and are increasing their studies in biology, conservation or envi - carefully recruited and trained a small corps of young people to ronmental education, with an eye to a future in ecology fields. present our message – and perhaps to continue this educational In Alagoas and throughout Brazil, the need for education mission on their own in years to come. remains critical to counter harmful myths and encourage bat We developed colorful brochures, T-shirts, stickers, key chains, conservation to expand. Our work continues as opportunities games and mask-painting projects, all designed to display the ben - and funding become available. We hope to build on our efits of bats, their conservation needs and their places in nature. progress by establishing a permanent bat exhibit in Alagoas We prepared lectures, videos and even a cartoon about good and where students can visit and find both fun and knowledge in happy bats. The children were uniformly enthusiastic and often exploring the world of Brazilian bats. intrigued by these surprisingly useful – and cute – animals that they had considered the stuff of nightmares. ANA CRISTINA BRITO DOS SANTOS is a Professor of Biology Our work in Alagoas produced an unusual and unexpected at the Universidade Federal de Alagoas in Brazil and a Board opportunity that expanded our reach considerably. We were asked Member of Fundacão Amanaié de Acão Socioambiental. by a local unit of the Brazilian Army to teach soldiers how to ex - plain the importance of the region’s rich biodiversity to children Homegrown conservation programs are usually the most enduring, and others at an upcoming Environment Day celebration. We and BCI’s Global Grassroots Conservation Fund supports these discussed the benefits and needs of the varied animals of Alagoas, projects around the world. Your help is urgently needed. Please do - with an emphasis on bats, of course, and believe we helped create nate at www.batcon.org/grassroots .

PHOTOs COuRTEsy Of AnA BRITO

(Left photo) Two girls enjoy a connect-the-dots activity during the Flying Mammals Project’s education pro - gram at their school in Alagoas. ( Right ) A project instructor describes a local species to enchanted youngsters.

Volume 28, No. 1 SPRING 2010 11 BATS NEWS AND NOTES WNS reaches Canada, Maryland and Tennessee or three years now, the end of winter has brought tragic re - The expansion of WNS into middle Tennessee puts neigh - Fports that White-nose Syndrome has spread into more caves boring Arkansas and Missouri on high alert as they complete and more states that had previously been untouched by this dev - and implement response strategies. astating killer of bats. Sadly, this year is no different. The most WNS has now invaded the ranges of two endangered recent surveys of bat-hibernation sites confirm that the disease species, the Indiana ( Myotis sodalis ) and gray myotis ( M. gris - has moved northward into Canada, south into Maryland and escens ), as well as the Virginia big-eared bat ( Corynorhinus has now spread some 400 miles (645 kilometers) westward into townsendii virginianus ), an endangered subspecies. and across Tennessee. Bats in 11 U.S. states and the Canadian In February, the disease was found at a West Virginia cave province of Ontario are now infected, and scientists still are where more than 6,000 Virginia big-eared bats (perhaps 45 per - working desperately to find a way to prevent the disease or at cent of the entire population) hibernate, along with about 4 per - least slow its spread. cent of all known Indiana myotis. Most of the bats using this WNS was discovered in a single New York cave in February major hibernaculum, however, are little brown myotis ( M. lu - 2006. It has raced unimpeded across the Northeast and into the cifugus ). Although biologists reported hundreds of little brown South, turning hibernation caves into mortuaries littered with and Indiana myotis had been killed or sickened by WNS, Virginia dead bats. Mortality rates approaching 100 percent are reported big-eared bats have so far shown no clinical signs of infection. at some sites, and well over a million of at least six species have Bat scientists and conservationists, meanwhile, nervously been killed. await the results of still more late-winter cave surveys, while the In the first report that WNS has reached Canada, the Ontario all-out search for solutions continues. To stay up to date on Ministry of Natural Resources said the disease was confirmed at WNS developments, visit www.batcon.org/wns . hibernacula in three areas: Bancroft-Minden, Kirkland Lake and Flesherton. All three are in southern Ontario, up to about 100 You can help BCI and its partners in our search for the knowledge miles (160 kilometers) north of the U.S./Canadian border. and tools to stop the devastation of North American bats by White- The ministry said three other sites are being investigated for nose Syndrome. Support the WNS Emergency Response Fund: WNS. The U.S. and Canada have been coordinating WNS www.batcon.org/wnsdonate . efforts, and the ministry is working with the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre in monitoring caves and mines that are used by hi - bernating bats. The Maryland Depart - ment of Natural Resources re - ports the state’s first case of WNS. The department said the disease was confirmed in dead bats at a cave near Cum - berland, in northwestern Maryland. In Tennessee, WNS was reported at a privately owned cave in the state’s northeastern corner in February. A month later, the state Department of Environment and Conserva - tion reported White-nose at Dunbar Cave State Park in north-central Tennessee. The department said the cave was closed throughout the winter to protect hibernating bats and will not be re opened this year.

BATS 12 SPRING 2010 Volume 28, No. 1 NEWS AND NOTES Killing bats leads to jail laughtering bats has never involved much risk for the per - widely reported. Spetrators: even the most brutal vandals are rarely identified BCI has been working at Kentucky’s Carter Caves State Re - and serious punishment is almost unheard of. But now a federal sort Park, where Laurel Cave is located, since 1998 to protect judge has raised the stakes. and improve conditions in a number of important Indiana my - otis hibernacula (see BATS , Winter 2005). The park’s Saltpetre Cave was discovered to be a mostly abandoned but once-major hibernation site. Closing the cave to winter tours and restoring historic airflow conditions led thousands of these endangered bats to once again begin hibernating in the cave. Prominent signs warning the public to keep out of the state park’s key caves during the winter hibernation season proved ineffective at Laurel Cave. So Kennedy and BCI Indiana myotis Coordinator Michael Baker joined with the American Cave Conservation Association, FWS, KDFWR and the Kentucky State Parks Department to install bat-friendly gates at Laurel Cave to protect this important site by keeping people out while bats are hibernating. FWS said its agents, acting on an anonymous tip, arrested Kentuckians Lonnie W. Skaggs and Kaleb D. Carpenter. Both men admitted entering the cave Oct. 26, 2007, and killing 23 of the hibernating bats, the FWS reports, while Skaggs returned several nights later and killed another 82 Indiana myotis. They pleaded guilty to violating the federal Endangered Species Act. U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward Atkins sentenced

COuRTEsy Of COy AInsLEy, PARk nATuRALIsT, CARTER CAVEs sTATE PARk Skaggs to two eight-month sentences to run concurrently, and placed Carpenter on three years’ probation. Carcasses of some of the endangered Indiana myotis slaughtered “This senseless act of killing dozens of endangered Indiana by vandals litter the floor of Kentucky’s Laurel Cave. One man bats cannot be tolerated,” said James Gales, special agent-in- was sentenced to eight months in jail for the incident. charge for Fish and Wildlife’s Southeastern Region. BCI extends its thanks to our loyal members and donors for One Kentucky man is going to jail for eight months and an - allowing us to help protect these bats and work toward a time other faces three years of probation after pleading guilty to beat - when such killings finally cease. ing to death 105 endangered Indiana myotis in October 2007 with flashlights, rocks and their feet. Such incidents have, thankfully, declined over the years as education ef - forts by Bat Conservation International and others have dispelled myths about bats and built an appreciation for their value. Yet, as proven in Kentucky’s Laurel Cave, senseless bat massacres have hardly disappeared. And this came after Indiana myotis already were being battered by White-nose Syndrome. A big difference this time, compared with similar inci - dents in the past, is that the Laurel Canyon slaughter has generated a surprising amount of media attention, both lo - cally and around the country. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) immediately raised a loud alarm. A consis - tent sense of outrage was expressed to reporters by many conservationists, prominently including BCI Cave Re - sources Coordinator Jim Kennedy. BCI worked with the Kentucky Department of Fish &

Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) to establish a reward fund © JIM kEnnEDy, BCI / 0046716 and provided the initial contribution. The reward quickly BCI staffers joined other groups and volunteers in building bat-friendly grew to $5,000 with support from the Southeastern Bat gates to keep vandals out of Laurel Cave in Kentucky after hibernating Diversity Network and Defenders of Wildlife and was Indiana myotis were killed there.

Volume 28, No. 1 SPRING 2010 13 BATS NEWS AND NOTES

© MERLIn D. TuTTE, BCI / 0043309

A world record t’s official: The bats that roost in Monfort Cave in the Philip - ulation in the Monfort cave was approximately 1.8 million.” Ipines have set a new record as the world’s largest colony of Monfort proved to be a tireless champion of bats, and her Geoffroy’s rousette fruit bats ( Rousettus amplexicaudatus ). That nonprofit Philippine Bat Conservation group, established after comes straight from Guinness World Records. BCI’s initial visit, works throughout the region in bat education, BCI has been working with Norma Monfort, who owns the research training and conservation. Samal Island cave, since 2006, when she asked BCI Founder BCI continues to partner with Monfort and the expanding Merlin Tuttle to help assess and protect this incredible colony. community of individuals and organizations who are building The formal Guinness announcement notes, “As per an new commitments to bat conservation and research throughout estimate from Bat Conservation International in 2006, the pop - the Philippines. If there’s a bat in my school… ith all the myths and misinformation that complicate Whuman-bat interactions, the occasional appearance of a wandering bat in or near a school can cause panicked reactions that put both people and bats at risk. A Texas teacher asked BCI for help in preparing for such incidents as the spring migration season gets under way. We were delighted to pitch in. Working with experts, BCI developed a small, simple poster that tells students what they should – and should not – do if they find a bat in or around their school. The key message is to stay calm, contact an adult and "Never touch a bat or any other wild .” There’s also a short message on the values and facts about bats. The poster, designed for hallways and bulletin boards, may be downloaded without obligation or charge from the “Educator’s Navigation” page of BCI’s website, www.batcon.org . It is available in color or black and white and may be printed to letter-size paper with any printer.

BATS 14 SPRING 2010 Volume 28, No. 1 NEWS AND NOTES

MEMBERS IN ACTION Todd Austin: “The Bat Doc”

wenty years ago, college student Todd Austin came across a school library and try to give each child a bat ring, a bat tattoo Tcopy of America’s Neighborhood Bats by BCI Founder Merlin and a BCI Important Bat Facts card.” Tuttle. “When I finished that book, I joined Bat Conservation Todd finds “most people very receptive, and many of the International,” he recalls now. “For the next 3½ years, I was pretty children really get excited. Elementary school kids tend to either much a bat geek, learning all that I could about these fascinating want to talk about vampire bats or to share what they’ve learned animals.” That commitment grew mightily in the years ahead. about how other bats are beneficial.” In 1994, as a Doctor of Chiropractic living in Quincy, Illi - He says most BCI members would probably enjoy giving nois, he added a new skill to his passion for bats: “I joined Toast - occasional presentations (although he adds that his experience masters, a public-speaking organization, where I was encouraged with Toastmasters was a key to giving him the confidence for to give speeches about any interests I had.” That, of course, in - public speaking). cluded bats. “It’s very rewarding to hear from people about how I’ve He also joined a local caving group, becoming its first chair - changed their minds about bats,” Todd said. “If I can touch the man of bat conservation. That quickly led to requests for bat lives or inspire a handful of young kids to go into bat-conserva - presentations to community groups and elementary school kids. tion or research-related fields, then I feel like I've made a He also helped with successful conservation projects at two tremendous impact for bats everywhere.” threatened bat caves. Then things really took off. Since moving to Virden, Illinois, Interested in giving bat-education presentations? BCI might be able in 1996, Todd says he’s presented 34 bat-education programs to help with advice and materials. Contact us at to explain the benefits and conservation needs of bats to more [email protected] . than 2,600 people of all ages. His pithy presentations originally

featured a BCI slide show COuRTEsy Of TODD AusTIn of Merlin Tuttle’s famous bat photos. That eventu - ally evolved into digital PowerPoint presentations, developed from his collec - tion of about 200 images, many of them taken dur - ing his own volunteer work with bats. These personal out - reach efforts are extremely rewarding and a lot of fun, Todd says. “I’d like to invite my fellow BCI members to get out of their comfort zones and start giving bat education and conservation presen - tations in their communi - ties, too.” When he’s speaking to adult audiences, Todd said, he usually brings a bat house or two for show- and-tell, and hands out construction plans for building them and tips for attracting bats. With youngsters, “I usually do - nate bat books to the Todd Austin poses with second-graders at Virden Elementary School in Illinois after a bat talk.

Volume 28, No. 1 SPRING 2010 15 BATS NEWS AND NOTES

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© MERLIn D. TuTTE, BCI / 00420312

ne of the most popular benefits of membership in BCI is colony of freetails. To safeguard it until adequate visitor and ed - Oyour invitation to witness the world’s largest bat colony ucation facilities can be developed, we must severely limit visi - emerge from Bracken Bat Cave on exclusive Member Nights. tation. Few besides BCI members are invited. And it’s time to sign up for this unique summer spectacle. Reservations for the 2010 Bracken Member Nights are now Up to 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats spiral out from the being accepted. Space is extremely limited, so please register cave near San Antonio, Texas, in a dense vortex, so many that you early. After you register, we’ll send directions and additional in - can hear the flutter of their wings. They peel off into thick ribbons formation with your confirmation. (Please limit your party to for a night of hunting over the Texas Hill Country, often with four people. Neither pets nor alcoholic beverages are allowed at hawks and owls diving into their midst to snatch an unlucky few. Bracken Cave.) Before they return at dawn, these bats will have eaten some 200 tons of insects, including many that ravage local crops. The emer - Reserve your place for a Bracken Member Night online at gence of the bats of Bracken is an unforgettable experience. www.batcon.org/membernights . For questions, please email mem - BCI owns and protects this cave and its incredible maternity [email protected]

The 2010 Member Nights Schedule

Friday, April 30 Saturday, July 31 Friday, August 27 Friday, May 28 Wednesday, August 4 Friday, September 3 Saturday, June 26 Saturday, August 7 Wednesday, September 15 Friday, July 2 Friday, August 13 Saturday, September 25 Wednesday, July 7 Wednesday, August 18 Friday, October 1 Saturday, July 17 Saturday, August 21 Saturday, October 9

BATS 16 SPRING 2010 Volume 28, No. 1 NEWS AND NOTES © ROM, 2010. ALL RIgHTs REsERVED. TWhe ISH LIST Your help with any of these special needs will directly improve BCI’s ability to protect bats and bat habitats. To contribute or for more information, contact BCI’s Department of Develop ment at (512) 327-9721 or [email protected]. Decontamination for WNS White-nose Syndrome is the most devastating scourge ever faced by North American bats. WNS is spreading rapidly and threatens bats around the continent. BCI is attacking this threat on a number of fronts, including our popular field workshops, which prepare professionals and serious amateurs for bat research and conservation. Each workshop will provide training and continuous use of the WNS-decontamination procedures recommended by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This effort will provide instructions for future use by participants and also protect against inadvertently spreading The BaT Cave is BaCk at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the fungus associated with WNS. Two decontami - Canada, and this reopened version is bigger and better than ever. nation kits are required at $770 each. Disposable The original, built in 1988, was among the museum’s most popular items, such as chemicals and wipes, cost $187 per exhibits. The remodeled gallery spreads across 1,700 square feet year for each kit. (158 square meters) in a faithful replica of the St. Clair Cave in Ja - City Bats of New Zealand maica. It features more than 800 bat models, some of them mecha - New Zealand long-tailed bats are found only in nized, that demonstrate the wonders of bats, from navigating in the island nation, where their population has de - clined more than 30 percent in a decade, largely be - the dark to grooming and raising their young. There’s even a dram - cause of habitat loss and non-native predators. atized emergence as the bat colony takes flight from the cave to Hamilton is one of a few cities where small popula - search for food. The Bat Cave, the museum promises, will immerse tions of this threatened species find refuge. Biologist visitors in all the sights, sounds and textures of a subterranean Darren Le Roux says little is known about the habits bat roost. This could be a trip worth taking. and needs of these insect-eating, tree-dwelling bats that use two forest fragments within the city. He plans to investigate their numbers, activity patterns, microhabitats and response to environmental vari - BCI Member Snapshot ables as a first step toward long-term conservation and monitoring. Le Roux will use infrared video storm blew down the bat house that equipment, remotely monitored bat detectors AMerlin Tollefsen had built and hoisted near treetops, and tests with bat houses. He installed at his home in Old Saybrook, seeks a BCI Global Grassroots Conservation Fund Connecticut. The house had always been grant of $2,000 for this pioneering program. popular with bats, so Merlin decided to build a new, high-powered roost that Field Guides for the Philippines could defy winter storms. This one, he Cave bats in the Philippines face constant dan - says, is anchored deeply with a great gers. They are hunted for food, and their roosts are deal of concrete. It also includes four disturbed by inappropriate guano mining, tourists bat houses arrayed at the top. “The and even treasure hunters. BCI is working with a growing network of partners to protect these impor - bats were back within a month,” he tant bats through collaborative conservation reports. His mom, BCI Member campaigns. Some of our colleagues have designed Martha Conklin, sent us this photo. a field guide to aid this growing network of cave-bat researchers and conservationists, and to raise Share a snapshot of your bat activities awareness among Filipinos of the ecological and with fellow members: Email it to economic value of their bats. The alliance needs [email protected] or mail it to Snap - $1,300 to print 3,000 of these unprecedented field shot, Bat Conservation International, guides for national distribution. Help get these PO Box 162603, Austin, TX 78716. much-needed field guides into the hands of bat conservationists working with local communities to protect the bats of the Philippines.

Volume 28, No. 1 SPRING 2010 17 BATS NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID AUSTIN, TEXAS P.O. Box 162603 PERMIT NO. 1530 Austin, TX 78716-2603 U.S.A.

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED