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Recently, my five year old daughter signed up with Earth Rangers, a Canadian kids’ conservation organization. She wanted to start a campaign to save bats. This led her to find out more about bats.
She learned that bats play an important role in our environment, consuming large amounts of insects, some of which are costly agricultural and forest pests in their larval and adult flying forms. In Canada, we don’t have vampire bats or fruit bats. All bat species in Canada eat insects – tons of insects. During the summer, a bat can eat half its body weight in insects per night. Biologists found that, in a lab setting, one Little Brown Myotis can eat 600 mosquitoes per hour.
There are at least sixteen species of bats found in British Columbia and although most species roost in caves, cliffs and trees, six species like to roost in man-made structures such as houses, bridges, and barns. Females return to warm enclosed spaces to give birth and raise their young. These maternity colonies are occupied from about April to late August or September. Male bats roost singly or in small groups and may use the outside of a building for temporary day or night roosting spots.
Bats are an important wildlife species and are neither rodents nor considered pests under BC law. They are protected from harassment and killing. If you have bats in one of your property structures and are concerned, please contact your local community bat project at www.bcbats.ca or 1-855-9BC-BATS. They can help answer your questions, assess the situation, and figure out how and when to evict them if necessary.
Half of the province’s bats are considered potentially endangered or threatened species at risk due to loss of habitat, destruction of roosting sites, and environmental con- taminants that have affected bat populations and insects.
Recently the Little Brown Myotis, a species that commonly uses buildings, was listed as Endangered due to the devastating impacts of White Nose Syndrome (WNS) in eastern Canada. This introduced fungus has killed approximately six million bats in eastern North America. The fungus does not pose a threat to human health.
One case of WNS in a bat was reported this spring in Washington State. This has greatly increased the urgency to understand bat populations in BC. The public is being asked to help to census local bat populations. The summer of 2016 may be the last year to obtain population estimates before WNS causes widespread declines in western North America. So if you want to get involved in counting bats, either on your property, or in your community, please contact your local bat project (www.bcbats.ca).
As Earth Ranger Emaya found out, there are many other ways to help bats. She chose to raise awareness and money. Along with another kindergarten friend, Earth Rangers Emaya and Aiden gave a presentation to the whole school of over 300 students at assembly. To everybody’s surprise, a bat showed up the day after their presentation, roosting on top of the front entrance of the school doors. All the classes took turns coming out to look at it, and cheer it on.
As a result, not only did these two five year olds raise a bit of money towards bat conservation, they also inspired many other students to become Earth Rangers.
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What you can do:
• Learn more about bats – visit your BC Community Bat Program (www.bcbats.ca, email info@bcbats.ca or call 1-855-922-2287). This network promotes bat conservation, particularly of bats in buildings.
• Enjoy bats if they chose to use your house as a day roost. Some people allow a maternity colony to use their attic or barn every summer. Report maternity bat roosting sites to your BC Community Bat Program.
• Build a bat house. For more information on how, see www.bcbats.ca.
• Prevent human transmission of White Nose Syndrome to BC. WNS could be inadvertently introduced into BC on clothing or equipment used underground or in contact with bats. Help stop the spread of spores from affected areas in the US, eastern Canada, Europe, and Asia.
Avoid entering bat roosting habitat in BC with any equipment or clothing previously used in WNS affected areas. Prevent accidental transport of bats (e.g., RV awnings, sun umbrellas, semi-truck trailers, moving containers) through vigilance, and not leaving doors, umbrellas and other stow-away locations open for bat entry.
• If you find a dead bat, use gloves if you are going to handle it. Collect it in a bag and label the bag with the date, location and your name, and then put the bag in the freezer. Contact the BC Community Bat Program to get further instructions. Collecting bat carcasses is particularly important in March and April, when they can be submitted for testing of White Nose Syndrome and may provide the earliest indication of the presence of the disease in BC.
• Create and enhance bat habitat. Bats need shelter, food (insects), and water. They need green spaces with mature deciduous trees, aquatic habitats such as wetlands, ponds, creeks, and rivers, and large rock walls or outcrops, particularly if they are fractured and have small crevices for roosting.
• Get children involved in raising awareness about bats. Join Earth Rangers (www.earthrangers.com) or see if your local conservation organization has a bat program for kids.
• Participate in the Annual Bat Count organized by your BC Community Bat Program. This citizen science initiative encourages residents to count bats at local roost sites. Bat counts are a wonderful way for residents to get involved in collecting important scientific information. No special skills are needed, kids can be involved, and you can relax in a deck chair while counting.
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Paula Rodriguez de la Vega is Emaya’s Mama. She is also an environmental consultant and recently got involved with the BC Community Bat Program.
