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BAT MYTHS DEBUNKED 4 — Jennifer Longsdorf Dispelling Irrational Fears About Bats Is the First Step Towards Appreciating These Amazing And

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BAT MYTHS DEBUNKED 4 — Jennifer Longsdorf Dispelling Irrational Fears About Bats Is the First Step Towards Appreciating These Amazing And No. 3, 2019 $3.00 Little Brown Bats, Winter Crow Roost, Northern Red-Bellied Cooters 39 4 Vol. 69 No. 3 FEATURES BAT MYTHS DEBUNKED 4 — Jennifer Longsdorf Dispelling irrational fears about bats is the first step towards appreciating these amazing and Photo by Troy Gipps/MassWildlifePhoto by Troy beneficial creatures. 12 THE CROW PATROL 12 — Craig B. Gibson A winter crow roost in Lawrence numbering over 25,000 birds leads to a new citizen science project. STUDENTS GIVE ENDANGERED TURTLES 20 A HEADSTART — Don Lyman Students from Bristol Aggie High School will join other cooperating partners again this winter to headstart the endangered northern red-bellied cooter. A HUNTER'S EDUCATION 28 Photo © Craig B. Gibson — Tabatha Hawkins 20 Early lessons in hunting safety and ethics are carried forward by this Hunter Education specialist. Correspondence 2 An Artist's Journey by Jenna Gormley 32 A Shot Well Taken by Elizabeth Wroblicka 34 On the Cover: Bats, such as these two little brown bats, are highly intelligent and social animals that live in groups called colonies. When bats aren’t looking for food or sleeping, they’re usually grooming and socializing. Roosting in large numbers provides social interaction, some protection from predators, and temperature stability. Unfortunately, bats have declined significantly Photo by Troy Gipps/MassWildlifePhoto by Troy over the last decade due to White-nose syndrome and 28 human activity. Massachusetts is home to nine species of bats, five of which are protected. Learn more about bat conservation and how to properly deal with bats in your home at mass.gov/bats. Photo by Troy Gipps/ MassWildlife. TO SUBSCRIBE OR BUY A GIFT SUBSCRIPTION PLEASE VISIT mass.gov/masswildlife OR CALL (617 ) 626-1590 ANY WEEKDAY Questions about your subscription? Change of address? Photo by Troy Gipps/MassWildlifePhoto by Troy Call toll free: (800) 289-4778 BY Jennifer Longsdorf Bat Myths Debunked Photo by Troy Gipps/MassWildlifePhoto by Troy 4 ow much do you know about Pest suppression, pollination, and the world’s only flying mam- seed dispersal are services which bats mal? Bats have long been provide naturally, but there are other misunderstood, and what derived ecosystem services provided we think we know about by bats including fertilizer, ecotourism, Hthese fascinating creatures is riddled and medicine. Bat guano (excrement) is with myths and misconceptions. Con- one of the richest and most concentrated trary to popular belief, bats are actually natural fertilizers known and is highly friendly, useful creatures. In fact, bats valued by organic farmers as well as by are often considered a keystone species homeowners for use on lawns and in because they play a critical role in our gardens. Many caves around the world ecosystem and are vital to the health are ecotourism destinations that provide of our environment. Without bats, the unique opportunities to educate the pub- Earth would be a very different place. lic about the myriad of ecological benefits Bats are the second most species-rich provided by bats. Research conducted on mammal group, outnumbered only by bats has led to advancements in flight and rodents. Approximately 1,300 species of sonar capabilities, navigational aids for bats around the world are valued for a the blind, drone engineering, and vaccine variety of intrinsic, cultural, and utilitar- development, among others. Bats are ian reasons, including the ecological and literally saving our lives! economic services they provide. Threats to Bats Bats use a type of natural sonar called echolocation to perform one of the most Worldwide, bat populations are in important ecosystem services of any serious decline as bats are faced with animal: pest suppression. They are the a variety of threats largely the result of primary predators of night-flying insects, increasing human activity. Bats face a including the disease-carrying insects we multitude of threats including, but not find in our backyards. They have a high limited to, habitat loss and degradation, metabolism so bats can eat up to 125% pesticide use, climate change, wind tur- of their body weight in insects in a single bines, roost closure and destruction, fear, night. Seventy percent of bat species ignorance, bushmeat trade, unregulated worldwide are insectivores, and over guano mining, and disturbance during 99% of bats found in the United States eat hibernation. insects. Therefore, bats provide organic, In North America, an estimated 6.7 effective, and free pest control. Bats are million bats have died since 2006 from also important to farmers since they eat an outbreak of White-nose syndrome crop-damaging insects, allowing farm- (WNS), a rapidly spreading disease ers to use fewer pesticides. This saves caused by a fungus that invades and farmers money, makes our food safer, ingests the bare skin of hibernating bats increases crop yields, and reduces the while they are inactive (Massachusetts amount of chemicals released into our Wildlife, No. 3, 2011). WNS increases bat air and water. It is estimated that bats metabolism, causing bats to wake up save farmers in the United States alone more frequently during the winter and at least 3.7 billion dollars (estimates use up their precious fat reserves. Bats range up to $53 billion) annually in pest ultimately starve to death, but the fungus control services. also compromises their immune systems Bats truly are remarkable animals, and and creates holes in their wings leading it’s a shame their unwarranted reputation to dehydration. has prevented many people from appre- WNS was first observed in bats hiber- ciating how truly beneficial and unique nating in a cave near Albany, New York in they are. In other parts of the world, 2007. However, cave explorers in that area fruit-eating and nectar-feeding bats play a had taken a photo of bats with a white critical role in plant and crop pollination, seed dispersal, and forest regrowth. Continued on page 8 5 Photos by Troy Gipps/MassWildlifePhotos by Troy A maternity colony of 200–300 little brown bats gathers each spring and summer at this private residence in Pepperell. They roost during the day in the rough and fire-scarred wood found in the garage and in the horse barn. Aside from these types of structures, bats have a variety of daytime retreats including attics, eaves, sheds, hollow trees, beneath loose tree bark, rock crevices, old buildings, window shutters, church steeples, caves, mines, bridges, and bat houses. 6 Bats are highly social mammals (above), especially echolocating bats as sound communication plays an important role in their social interactions. Little brown bats are a colonial species forming colonies of several hundred up to hundreds of thousands of individuals. Females form large maternity colonies to birth and raise their young. The pups profit from the extra warmth provided by this social thermoregulation. Male bats and non-reproductive females live separately from the maternity colony; A little brown bat (below) grooms its wing membranes with its tongue and teeth in preparation for the evening flight. Photos by Troy Gipps/MassWildlifePhotos by Troy 7 Photo by Troy Gipps/MassWildlifePhoto by Troy Little brown bats have 38 teeth, all of which are small, relatively sharp, and prominent to enable grasping insects while in flight. Their bite marks are often mistaken for a scratch, as they are tiny and rarely ever break human skin. If you suspect a bat bite, catch the bat and submit it for rabies testing. If the bat cannot be captured, contact your healthcare provider immediately. Continued from page 5 Chester, there were about 10,000 little powdery substance on their noses the brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) in early year before, so WNS has been in North winter 2007–2008. By the end of winter America since at least 2006. WNS contin- 2008–2009, nearly every bat had been ues to spread rapidly and has caused a killed by WNS … only 14 individual bats catastrophic mortality of bats that spend remained. The little brown bat used to the winter in caves and mines. WNS is be the most abundant and widespread now the number one threat to bats, killing bat species in Massachusetts. Since the more than a million bats each year and onset of WNS in Massachusetts, the causing mortality rates that approach state’s population of little brown bats 100% at some sites. As of July 2019, WNS has dwindled to less than 1% of what it has been confirmed in 33 states and 7 once was. As a result of the devastating Canadian provinces, and the fungus that mortality that has resulted from WNS in causes WNS has been confirmed in 5 Massachusetts, all four of our bat species additional states. This fungus originated that spend the winters in caves or mines from European caves and is yet another have been listed as endangered on the example of the harm that can be caused Massachusetts Endangered Species Act by the introduction of non-native species. list. Of the nine bat species that occur in This bat-killing fungus has triggered the the Commonwealth, five are now state most serious wildlife disease epidemic in endangered including the Indiana bat American history. which was last recorded in 1939. See page 10 for more details. At the largest Massachusetts bat hi- bernation site in an abandoned mine in These factors, combined with their slow 8 reproductive rates, result in incredibly slow recovery from population declines, Largest Bat Colony in making susceptible species vulnerable the World to extinction. Bracken Cave in San Antonio, Texas Myths Debunked is the summer home of as many as 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats. These Bats certainly have an image problem, bats are considered the world’s fastest as many people think bats are aggressive mammals and can reach speeds nearing or dirty animals.
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