Bats: Often Endangered and Under-Appreciated

Accounting for about one-fifth of the world's mammalian species, bats are feared, misunderstand, and often endangered creatures. Few humans realize the benefit of these pint-sized animals, which play a vital part in nearly every ecosystem on the planet. Over on thousand distinct species exist worldwide, feeding on a variety of small, delectable goods: Blood, fruit, and, thankfully, insects. A single bug-eating bat may consume up to six hundred mosquitos in a single hour!

Despite this single obvious benefit, bats are often thought of in popular culture with reference to Bram Stoker's fictional vampire Dracula, even though the majority of bats do not drink blood! Unfortunately, persecution due to popular myths combined with habitat loss and increased spelunking activity have led to significant declines in North American bat populations, freeing many bugs from large numbers of predators and thus exposing humans to insect diseases or crop pestilence.

The Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis), numbering fewer than a quarter-million individuals, is mostly distributed through the eastern United States and midwest. The tiny, quarter-ounce creatures hibernate in a few choice caves every winter, which drop to a low enough temperature so as to allow hibernation. Another contributing factor to the significant decline of this animal is its low birth rate, only one offspring per year.

Another endangered bat species endemic to the United States is the half-ounce Gray Bat (Myotis grisescens), which ranges in area from Alabama in the south to Kentucky in the North, and as far west as Arkansas and Missouri. Like the Indiana Bat, they require cold caverns in which to hibernate, and are easily disturbed by spelunkers, tourists, and sometimes vandals. In the summer, they separate by gender before regrouping in autumn.

Helping these bats on the individual level is often as simple as constructing a bat house. Plans can be found here; after building the small, wooden dwelling, simply paint the house dark for northern climates, or lighter colors if located in the deep south. Trees, large posts, and the sides of houses all make ideal places to hang the structure, as long as the location of choice is at least twelve feet off the ground.

North American bats may be in great danger, but there's much that can be done to save them. If more people were aware of their obviously beneficial consumption of pest insects, they may no longer see dogs as "man's best friend."