BAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 1 • 2016 // BATCON.ORG A PASSION FOR Meet BCI volunteers driven by sharingcuriosity and a desire to educate SPOTLIGHT ON: NORTHERN PUTTING THE FUN BACKYARD BAT LONG-EARED BAT IN FUNDRAISING RESEARCHERS LEAVE a LASTING LEGACY for BATS Making a bequest to Bat Conservation International is a profound way to protect bats and the places you love. You can name BCI as a beneficiary of your will, trust, retirement plan, life insurance policy or financial accounts. Anyone can make a bequest, and no amount is too small. Nature and bats need you! Photo: MerlinTuttle.org FOR MORE INFORMATION Please call SHARON SPARLIN at 1-800-538-BATS (2287) or email us at [email protected]. ISSUE 1 • 2016 bats INSIDE THIS ISSUE FEATURES 08 A PASSION FOR SHARING Curiosity and a desire to educate drive BCI volunteers FOR THE 12 LOVE OF BATS Friends of BCI find personal ways to Photo: Jonathan Alonzo Jonathan Photo: support our mission OFF THE BAT [PAGE 8] MAKING A DIFFERENCE BCI Executive Director Andrew Recognizing the many generous 02 Walker discusses the importance of 18 friends and members who have volunteerism in society and for BCI recently supported BCI SPECIES SPOTLIGHT BAT KIDS A look at the northern long-eared bat BCI partners with National 06 and its ongoing battle with White- 20 Geographic’s Animal Jam to bring nose Syndrome bats to a virtual world BAT CHATS ON THE WING A bat researcher in Malawi BCI staff and board members 14 challenges local superstitions, 21 make an Explorers Club-certified providing education via a bat helpline expedition in the Sunshine State NEWS & UPDATES BAT SIGNALS FIELD NOTES BCI news and Research news from Photo: MerlinTuttle.org 03 conservation updates 15 around the globe � A rare sighting of the Florida � Seeking backyard bat bonneted bat researchers to help track the � Celebrating Bat Week 2015 with a Florida bonneted bat world record for bat houses and bat- � A volunteer-led national bat- themed beer and treats tracking program in the U.K. ON THE COVER BCI volunteer Don � The Wildlife Habitat Council’s BCI looks back on 10 years of Bergquist (right) educates [PAGE 3] Award for corporate conservation research and conservation visitors to Bracken Cave. Photo: Katie Gillies Katie Photo: Photo: Jonathan Alonzo batcon.org bats { 01 batoff the A FEW WORDS OF INTRODUCTION FROM YOUR FRIENDS AT BCI Bat Conservation International (BCI) is the only 501(c) (3) organization working on the ground to protect bats Saving the world (for free) and their essential habitats worldwide. A copy of our current financial statement and registration filed by the By ANDREW WALKER organization may be obtained by contacting our office in Austin, below, or by visiting batcon.org. n his 2000 book, Bowling Alone: civic duty they take seriously. And Main Office Washington DC The Collapse and Revival of statistics bear this out: 20 percent 500 North Capital of 4600 North Fairfax Drive American Community, Harvard of twenty-somethings volunteered Texas Highway, Building 1 7th floor I Austin, TX 78746 Arlington, VA 22203 political scientist Robert Putnam in 2013, up from 14 percent in 1989. 512-327-9721 703-962-6775 discusses the ways in which Amer- And millennials are likely to volun- icans have disengaged from public teer even more as they get older. Editor Emeritus Managing Editor involvement since 1950 with the This is welcome news to non- Robert Locke Micaela Jemison rise of television, the Internet and profit organizations. At BCI, Publication Management GLC other societal trends. He cites volunteers save us hundreds of statistics showing steady declines thousands of dollars annually in Bats welcomes queries from writers. Send your article in voter turnout, public meeting staff costs we couldn’t otherwise proposal in a brief outline form and a description of any photos, charts or other graphics to the Editor at attendance, and membership in the afford to pay. From our Board of [email protected]. PTA and other civic and fraternal Directors on down, volunteers are Members: We welcome your feedback. Please send organizations. integral to almost everything BCI letters to the Editor at [email protected]. Changes Putnam’s thesis continues to does. It’s doubtful of address may be sent to [email protected] spark public debate and counter we would have or to BCI at our Austin, Texas, address above. Please allow argument. Some sociologists have protected the 1,520- TALK TO US four weeks for the change of address to take effect. argued that, although many tradi- acre Galo tract at Share your thoughts From time to time, BCI exchanges mailing lists with tional 20th century institutions are Bracken Cave last and feedback with other like-minded conservation groups to make more in long-term decline, new forms of year, had it not been Bats magazine at people aware of the importance of bats. If you wish . to opt-out of these exchanges, please let us know at civic involvement have been taking for our volunteer [email protected] [email protected]. their place—enter the soccer mom, leadership. And we Founder: Dr. Merlin D. Tuttle neighborhood associations and see the same strong book clubs. commitment from young people Board of Directors Volunteerism has not been outside the United States. Dr. Cullen Geiselman Dr. Charles C. Chester Chair Bettina Mathis immune from these trends; fewer This issue of Bats magazine Steven P. Quarles, Dr. Gary McCracken adults volunteer for the Boy Scouts profiles a few of these people. As Vice Chair John D. Mitchell and other traditional groups. In someone who also began his career Danielle Gustafson, Alexander “Sandy” Read 2013, the volunteer rate was 25.4 as a conservation volunteer, I have Treasurer Dr. Wes Sechrest percent, or 62.6 million people, deep appreciation for the com- C. Andrew Marcus, Susan Wallace Secretary Joe Walston compared with 29 percent of the mitment, energy, enthusiasm and population in 2003, according to the talent that each volunteer brings. It Science Advisory Committee Dr. Kate Jones Dr. Rodrigo Medellín U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. enriches us all and advances our Dr. Tigga Kingston Dr. Paul Racey But there is good news: Volun- mission to protect the world’s bats. Dr. Gary McCracken, Dr. Charles Rupprecht teering is alive and well in the To every volunteer, thank you! Board liaison millennial generation. People under Senior Staff the age of 30 report in poll after poll Andrew Walker Andrew Walker, Joy Gaddy, that volunteering is an important BCI Executive Director Executive Director Operations David Waldien, Mylea Bayless, Global Conservation U.S./Canada Conservation Editor’s Note: BCI is proud to work on bat conservation issues around the world. To reflect this global mission, we are changing the issue designations for Bats magazine from northern hemisphere-based seasonal designations Visit BCI’s website at batcon.org and the following (e.g., Winter) to a numerical system. Hence, this edition is “Issue 1 2016.” Our social media sites: new editor (who is Australian) hopes this will appeal to all our members Facebook.com/batcon Twitter.com/BatConIntl around the world! 02 }bats Issue 1 2016 CONSERVATION A family of rarely seen Florida bat bonneted bats, like this one, was spotted in late December. BCI UPDATES AND CONSERVATION NEWS A promising start A rare sighting renews hope For the average bat enthusiast, there is per- haps no better way to kick off the New Year than spotting a critically endangered spe- cies. This New Year’s Eve, Ralph Arwood was the man to be. Since 2012, Arwood and his research team have been on the hunt for the rare Florida bonneted bat (Eumops flori- danus). On Dec. 21, Arwood finally made his long- awaited discovery in Big Cypress National Preserve, when his acoustic monitors indicated that a family of bats was roosting in the cavity of an old woodpecker tree. Arwood and his team watched the sun set over the horizon that day, patiently waiting to confirm signs of life in the cavity 30 feet above. Sure enough, one bat after another emerged from its asylum. Their size and recorded calls confirmed that they were what Arwood spent all of three years chasing—the rare Florida bonneted bat. Arwood’s sighting was actually the second confirmed roosting site found that same week; acoustic monitors also detected the echolocation calls of the species in a four-story condominium near a Miami city park. Although the Florida bonneted bat population remains under threat, these recent sightings are inspiring—not only do they fill us with optimism, but they also serve as an important reminder to renew our New Year’s resolution of A FANTASTIC FIND protecting bats at home To read more about Ralph Arwood’s find and and around the world. to watch a video of these Florida bonneted bats flying out from their roost, visitralpharwood. com/blog. Photo: Katie Gillies Katie Photo: batcon.org bats { 03 bat Bat Week is an annual event designed to raise awareness for bat conservation worldwide. BAT WEEK 2015 One for A night of theBCI helps books organize world nocturnal record for building bat houses during Bat Week treats Bat Week wasn’t just for the builders; food- he Bat Week spirit was ies got in on the action, too. To celebrate felt right across North bats and their connections to our foods, BCI TAmerica last October teamed up with Freetail Brewing Company as people came together to in San Antonio to hold a Night of Noc- raise awareness about bat turnal Treats. Freetail Brewing Company conservation. The highlight introduced its latest microbrew, “Nocturnal of the weeklong celebration Nectar,” a pale ale named by BCI supporters (Oct.