Let's Talk About Bats: Friends or Foes?
Vampires, devils, death, and misfortune. In many cultures around the world, bats are portrayed as ominous and hostile. But do you know that bats are actually beneficial to have around? Being mostly active at night and hidden from our view, this misunderstood mammal has been long overlooked.
Benefits of Bats
Bats play an active role in our society by providing many economic and environmental advantages:
Insect control: The value of pest control provided by bats in the US is estimated at over $3.7 billion per year. The Little Brown Bat, one of Ontario's native species, can consume over 600 insects in an hour!
Pollination: Over 500 plant species depend on bats for pollination, including beloved tropical fruits like bananas, mangoes, and durians, as well as about 80 medicinal plants.
Seed dispersal: Bats spread seeds for nuts, figs, avocados, and cacao—the main ingredient of chocolate. In many tropical regions, bats play a vital role in kick-starting the initial growth of cleared rainforests.
Bats as Fascinating Creatures
In addition to their benefits, bats exhibit fascinating traits and behavior that reveal their complexity.
Bats are warm-blooded mammals, known for their unique ability to fly. Most navigate using echolocation, but they also have sensitive vision that allows them to see in pitch darkness.
Many bats are incredibly cooperative and social, especially when it comes to their interactions with non-kin. They can recognize their friends and maintain these relationships for decades, which is remarkable given that some colonies contain over 15 million individuals! Additionally, many bats forage together, sharing strategies, locations, and even resources. For example, vampire bats bring back blood in their stomachs to spit up and share with their friends. A few species have even been documented to engage in allogrooming, allonursing, and communal babysitting. Surprisingly still, there is little evidence of conflicts and dominance hierarchies among female bats in the same colony, which is extremely rare among social mammals.
Female bats typically produce one pup a year and invest heavily in caring for this child. In the early weeks after birth, mothers carry their babies while flying, which can be exhausting since pups can weigh as much as one-third of their mother’s weight. Later when the baby bat is able to fly on its own, they will forage together.
Bats are the longest-living mammals for their size and metabolic rate. Most live about 10-20 years, but some can reach 30 or even over 40 years. In comparison, the average lifespan of house mice is four years. Research has shown that bats' DNA contains genes that suppress cancer, help repair cellular damage, and perform other cellular tasks that contribute to their longevity. Additionally, many hibernating bats have telomeres that do not shorten over their lifetimes, allowing them to age more slowly than other mammals. Their powerful immune systems also play a key role; bats can host numerous deadly viruses to humans without suffering harm. Studying these species could provide valuable insights into human health care and longevity.
Threats to Bats
Unfortunately, bats face numerous threats due to human activity. Four of the eight bat species in Ontario are endangered. The main causes include:
White-Nose Syndrome (WNS): This fungal infection, introduced by humans, wakes bats up during their hibernation. In order to warm up, bats increase their metabolic rate and use up reserved fat, eventually leading to starvation. In some colonies, the death rate from WNS is 99%.
Image—> Bat infected with WNS. Photo by Marvin Moriarty/USFWS.
Climate Change: Climate change has devastating effects on bat populations, as many cannot adapt to unusual weather patterns and extreme natural disasters.
Habitat Loss: Human activities destroy and fragment roosting sites and foraging grounds. Additionally, noise, light, and air pollution disrupt their natural cycles and behaviors, while pesticide use reduces the abundance of insects that bats rely on for survival.
Collisions with Wind Turbines: This is a lesser but still notable threat. Migratory bats sometimes mistake turbines for trees or water bodies, resulting in injuries by the blades. However, there are designs and strategies that can significantly decrease such risk. For example, stopping turbine operation during sunsets when bats are active and emitting a certain frequency that deters them from the turbines are efficient ways to reduce this threat.
Domestic Cats: As an invasive species, cats pose extensive threats to biodiversity worldwide. It is strongly discouraged to let your cats roam outdoors.
What can we do to support bats locally?
Keep cats indoors: Consider providing an enclosed outdoor “catio” instead, to protect your pet and wildlife.
Install a Bat Box: If installed correctly, bat boxes can provide valuable summer roosting sites for bats to raise their young. The addition of bats to your community can also address problems with mosquitoes if present. Although two zoonotic diseases–rabies and histoplasmosis–have been documented in Canadian bats, the percentage of affected bats is very low. As long as direct contact with bats and bat droppings is avoided, the safety risk of having a bat house is far less than the risk of having a dog.
If you want to purchase one, there are plenty of options from the Urban Nature Store where you can get 15% off on all bat houses & bat kits until Oct 31, 2024.
If you want to design a bat box of your own, you can learn more on this guidelines by the CWF
Join Citizen Science Programs: Participate in initiatives like Neighbourhood Bat Watch, NABat, and EcoSpark’s iNaturalist project. Data from these citizen science programs help scientists draft effective guidelines and policies.
Advocate for Conservation: Support efforts to protect bats and their habitats.
So, the next time you hear someone dissing bats, stand up for them! Consider supporting these incredible creatures in any way you can. There are countless mysteries about them waiting to be unraveled, and your contribution is crucial in helping scientists piece together the puzzle.
Author Bio
Yiming Chen is a high school student with a passion for wildlife and nature. In her free time, she enjoys volunteering and is currently completing her co-op placement at EcoSpark through the York Region District School Board.
References
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