Bat Week has begun, and scientists say bats could use some love.
While these nocturnal insectivores are critical for controlling harmful insect populations, these flying mammals are widely misunderstood.
Niki Desautels is with a non-profit that works with bats.
She says people need not fear the petite mosquito munchers.
“The more you know about them, the less fear there is in the public, which is a huge thing for bats,” said Desautels. “That public support is so helpful 'cause it leads to interest, it leads to funding for research, it leads to people being good to their bats."
Desautels says bats face many threats nationwide, including habitat loss and dropping insect numbers.
Of the eight bats found in Wisconsin, four are state-threatened species: big brown bat, little brown bat, northern long-eared bat (also federally endangered) and tricolored bat; and one, the silver-haired bat, is of special concern, meaning the population is declining and in need of conservation action.
The decline of bats in Wisconsin is primarily due to white-nose syndrome, a disease caused by a fungus that attacks the bare skin of bats during hibernation each winter. The disease exhausts their energy stores and leaves them vulnerable to starvation before their insect diet becomes available in the spring.
Fortunately, after experiencing steep declines since 2014, when white-nose syndrome first arrived in Wisconsin, recent Wisconsin Bat Program survey counts show rebounding numbers of little brown bats at some significant roost and hibernation sites across the state.
DNR conservation biologist and bat program hibernacula specialist Jennifer Redell says many of these sites offer ideal conditions for little brown bats and were known to hold large numbers before white-nose syndrome arrived in the state.
"Just a few of Wisconsin’s historic mines are the winter home to a significant percentage of the nation’s little brown bats," said Jennifer Redell, DNR conservation biologist and bat program hibernacula specialist. "In the spring those bats emerge to spread out across thousands of square miles of forests, fields and neighborhoods in the Midwest. Keeping those hibernating bats safe when they’re here in winter should be of interest to everyone who wants to swat at fewer mosquitoes each summer."
Despite the recent glimmers of population recovery in little brown bats, there's still a long way to go.
Hibernating bats are still stressed by white-nose syndrome each winter, and species like the tricolored bat and northern long-eared bat have not shown similar signs of recovery.
