Busy October

Looks like I’ve been slacking again! It’s another busy busy busy October. Eighteen programs scheduled! The spiders have proven to be just as popular as the bats and I’ve been gettting lots of return business because of it. Check out the website calendar page for upcoming programs near you!

Stellaluna

Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo recently gave birth to her first child, a daughter. The daughter’s name? Stella Luna Pompeo Ivery. So, does she realize she named her child after a very popular fictional bat? Only she knows for sure…

 Regardless of the name’s origin, if you have a child who likes bats or, heck, if YOU like bats, then you absolutely must purchase Stellaluna. It’s a treasure whether you’re 5 or 105.

I received my first copy of Stellaluna when I was in my late 20’s from my Aunt Arlene, a librarian. I had never heard of the book and was delighted when the unexpected package arrived and I found this gem inside.

Stellaluna is not author Janell Cannon’s only effort. Subsequent and equal books include Verdi, the story of a snake, and Crickwing, about a cockroach. I am still waiting for a book about spiders, Janell. Still waiting…

A Book Memory

BATS by M. Brock Fenton

 My memory tells me that this is the second significant bat book I ever owned. I can still recall the pouting that was required to secure the funds in order for it to come home with me from the store.

How could I resist its charm? There it stood – magnificent, glossy, four large letters emblazoned on the front and spine: BATS. It had just been sitting, shiny and new on the top shelf, waiting for me to notice it.

I digested it in stages. First, I held the book on my lap and basked in the reflected glow from the dust jacket. After I’d spent enough time reveling in this new addition to my collection I opened it and began pouring through the chapters one by one, making mental notes of the chapter headings and catching my breath at the stunning full-color images that were found on almost every page.

The last step was digestion. After putting some space between myself and the shiny pages in order to absorb what I’d already seen, I began reading it properly. Chapter after chapter I found new information to add to my arsenal of bat facts, and new ideas of what I really wanted people to know about bats when I spoke to them.

The book was written by M. Brock Fenton. (Originally published in 1992 (the year I purchased it), and then revised and reissued in 2001.) The man really knows his bats. Not to say that the myriad of other bat authors on my shelves don’t, but Fenton, like Merlin Tuttle, has the gift of making them accessible to the general public. Concepts often reserved for college textbooks are explained in a very common sense, easily absorbed way.

When I think of bats and bat experts, three names come to mind. Merlin Tuttle, founder of Bat Conservation International and author of several books including America’s Neighborhood Bats; Thomas Kunz, and M. Brock Fenton.  I have too many bat books, by too many authors to remember, but these three names stand out among the crowd.

You can imagine my delight and sudden sense of urgency when, as I perused the latest issue of BATS! magazine (published by BCI), I read that Brock Fenton, professor at the University of Western Ontario, was offering a new on-line course in bat biology. My delight was increased exponentially when, as the article recommended, I e-mailed Fenton himself with questions about the course and he personally responded! (On the very same day!)

I am well on my way to achieving a bat trifecta – I’ve captured bats side by side with Merlin Tuttle in the Pacific North West, and now a course and correspondence with M. Brock Fenton. If I ever have dealings with Thomas Kunz my list will be complete.

The Poop Post

I was just checking our stats and noticed that under most searched terms the query “what is the difference between mouse poop and bat poop?” was listed. So, without further ado…

The droppings of small bats like our very common and local little brown bats looks very similar to mouse droppings and can confuse homeowners who are trying to determine exactly what type of animal is living in their attic. Bat poop, or guano, looks like mouse poop except for one distinct difference: bat guano is sparkly. If you look closely at the individual droppings from a little brown bat you will see light reflected – almost as if it was partly made of dark glitter. The glitter effect is created by the remnants of the hard exoskeletons that cover all of the insects our bats eat every night.

There you have it: small and dull = mouse; small and sparkly = bat.

As we deal with larger species of bats, like the big brown bats, the guano is not always sparkly. (Oftentimes the guano of larger bats is dull because of the scales from large numbers of moths consumed.) But it is always larger than mouse droppings so a distinction is easily made between the two.

The Great Bat Detector Survey

Do you own a bat detector?

If everyone had all of the money in the world to spend I would recommend bat detectors like mine (pictured). But most people must make do with the lower cost models that run around $100. (Doesn’t sound so low, does it?)

The difference between the models is range. The $250+ models can be tuned to a wide range of frequencies and therefore detect a wider range of bats. The $100 models are one-trick-ponies. Despite their seeming high cost, they only detect echolocation calls within one specific range. For most, this is perfectly adequate. In New York, most bat species echolocate within this one common range. Outside of the state, however, the ranges vary more between species and the more expensive models of detector are recommended.

Hey, Liz, what’s your point? The point is this: how well do the $100 models really work? If you or someone you know owns a bat detector in the $100 range, is it working as expected? Recently a woman contacted me about her purchase of a $100 model. Despite the assurances of the company that it would work, it didn’t. She was able to pick up some sounds from nearby noise-makers such as water and insects, but the bats, even when they flew around and over her head, could not be heard.  

If you have a bat detector, or know someone who does, please let us know! Comment on this post or send an e-mail to Liz batphile@yahoo.com Make sure to include the model and cost of your detector and where you purchased it. And, of course, the most important piece of information we need is if it works! The goal is to be able to confidently recommend an affordable model of bat detector.

Thanks!

Big Brown Bat Question

Question:

We have a bat that looks to be about 4 to 4 ½ inches long, and roosts in our overhang almost every night in the summer. It is solitary and is defecating profusely all over the front stoop. This has been going on for about 3 summers. I initially thought it was a mouse, but last summer, I finally looked up (about 12 feet off the ground) and saw droppings sticking to the side of the house. It arrives around 10 to 10:30PM and is always gone by sun up.

I believe, because of the size and being solitary, it may be a Big Brown bat. I am not sure what it does all night. I suspect it is resting here, then feeds, then poops, then feeds some more, then poops some more. It must have a safe hiding place during the day, in some other location. Does any of this seem to make sense? Is there anything more you can tell me?

What is their diet? I found that is was mostly moths, and such, not so much mosquitoes (like the Little Brown bats). If I was to build a bat house (per on line instructions) what would/could I end up with as far as residents?

Answer:

It certainly sounds like a Big Brown Bat. It sounds like he is using your overhang as an evening roost. Most bats have one place they will spend the entire day sleeping and other evening roosts that are between their hunting grounds where they will rest, digest, and of course poop.

The Big Brown Bats eat lots of moths and beetles. They are excellent at controlling garden pests.

If you build a bat house you will either get little brown bats or big brown bats, they are both fond of bat houses. I have not heard of any other of the New York bats using them so it will be one or the other once they start moving in.

If you build soon and get it up before the end of the summer it will give your local bats a chance to see what’s available and they may decide to move in when they return from hibernation next spring. So, get building! 🙂

Bats in Buildings – Question #1

Question:

I have had 9 bats in my home in the last 3 weeks. We can hear them in the wall in the attic but they are coming through slots in the wall. Last night we had 2 in our house. We were able to get rid of them thanks in part to our cat. I have 2 small kids. Can you please give me any insight as to why these bats would be trying to get inside my home. Last week one got stuck in the heating vent. 

I need to get rid of these bats very soon. Can you possibly give me some insight on what I should do?

Answer:

If you’ve had that many bats in your house over such a short period of time it’s because they are living somewhere in the house already. The best thing to do would be to call an exterminator (man, I hate that word). There are pest control operators that will exclude the bats from your house without harming them. You just have to ask how they get rid of the bats and what they do with them when you call.

The hardest part about dealing with bats living in your house is finding out where they are coming in and out. If you don’t want to call an exterminator there are ways to exclude them yourself. The first thing you need to do is invite a bunch of friends over for a bat party. Station people at every side of the house in lawn chairs before it gets dark and have them watch  the house to look for bats coming out. Once you see where their entrance is you can exclude them pretty easily, as long as you find all entrances.

With just some duct tape and a square of netting (like is sold for protecting fruit trees from birds) you can create a sort of one-way door. By taping the netting above and partly down the sides of the house around the opening the bats will be able to leave in the evening but can’t find their way back in. There are more details about this exclusion method at
http://batcon.org/index.php/bats-a-people/bats-in-buildings/subcategory/68.html
and check out http://batcon.org/index.php/bats-a-people/bats-in-buildings/subcategory/69.html

Good Luck!

Bats and Nets Don’t Mix

Early this morning I was awoken by a phone call from a couple who had woken to find a bat in their home. They opened several windows to allow the bat space to escape but the bat, afraid and traumatized by repeated attempts by the family cat to capture it, wasn’t flying out of the open windows. Instead, it made several attempts to land in a corner of the room where the surface proved too smooth for its small toes to grasp. It then made several failed attempts to escape via the windows but only managed to become lost in the Roman blinds. As nothing else was working, the couple ended up using a net to capture the bat. That is where the real trouble began.

Bats and nets don’t mix well. Sure, scientists use specialized nets to capture bats for study all over the world but, they are all monitoring the nets constantly and are trained to quickly free the bats once they are caught.

Why won’t this work just as well for Joe Homeowner?

• First, a bat left in a net will pull and struggle with its wings and claws in an effort to free itself – most times this effort just results in the bat becoming more entangled than when it was first caught.
• Second, scientists are trained so that they can hold a netted bat with a gloved hand while using a bare hand to carefully untangled the bat. I feel a need for caps here : NO ONE SHOULD EVER APPROACH OR TRY TO HELP A BAT WITHOUT TRAINING AND WITHOUT LEATHER GLOVES ON. A terrified and trapped bat only has one defense left – biting. I was careless and new to dealing with bats caught in nets on my first bat trip and, even with training, got myself bitten. My reward? An extra round of rabies shots (the bat was not tested, thus the shots were a necessary precaution).

So what do you do? Be patient. If you can confine a bat to a single room and it doesn’t escape through an open window it will eventually land somewhere. Once it lands break out the coffee can and cardboard (and don’t forget the leather gloves!) and gently take the bat outside your home and release it at the base of a tree where it will be able to climb up to a proper height to then fly back to its roost.

Don’t have a spare can? Then grab a hand towel or something larger – still, of course, wearing gloves – and very carefully remove the bat and take it outside.

Bats’ wings are supported by very long, thin, and delicate bones. Great care should always be taken to protect both you (leather gloves) and the bat when removing it from your house.

Bat House Question #1

Question:

We have been considering a bat house because of mosquitoes, I have two questions though.  My son said that you can’t have bats near fields that are sprayed.  We have fields all around us and the fields to the east and south are sprayed several times a year.  Is this true?  Also, is there any danger of having bats near a house (like a hundred feet) where children play?  I had heard that the bat droppings can cause problems for some people and other
people have told me their droppings have a strong odor.  Please let me know more info.!

Answer:

As far as bat houses are concerned, the most important thing about their location is how much sun they get during the day and that they aren’t mounted on a tree. Western New York has a lot of agriculture so putting up houses a decent distance from fields that are treated is pretty difficult. I would just say “go for it” and see if the bats move in.

As far as their guano is concerned, I would not worry about it. Bat guano is only dangerous when it has collected in large piles and dried up – a fungus sometimes grows on old guano piles that can cause a very serious respiratory infection called histoplasmosis. Most often histoplasmosis is associated with bird droppings and is a danger around chicken farms and coops that aren’t properly maintained. A bat house would never generate enough guano for any concern.

As far as a smell, I have been in an abandoned building that housed 14,000 bats and stood right next to the piles of guano. I can’t recall anything overpowering or noxious about the odor. Their droppings are small and dry quickly so odor is rarely a problem in the case of bat houses.

Here is a link to the CDC’s web page about Histoplasmosis:

http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/dfbmd/disease_listing/histoplasmosis_gi.html

Democrat & Chronicle Article

Wow! We made the newspaper. Here is a link to the article:

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009908090346

Since the article was in the paper on Sunday I have received many e-mails with some common and great bat questions. I’m doing my best to answer every one of them. Starting today, I am beginning a new category in the blog where I will post the questions and my responses to them.

Thanks for reading and keep sending your questions!

Liz 🙂