Posts Tagged ‘Bat’

Dec
06

The Houston Zoo is educating Painted Dog Conservation about bats

Posted by in Africa,Bats,community-based conservation,Conservation,Rachel and Cullen in Africa,Supporting Painted Dog Conservation

Cullen with bat that lives in the roof of the guest housing at Painted Dog Conservation

Cullen Gieslman is a Houston Zoo conservation board member.  She has been studying bats for quite some time and volunteered to accompany Conservation Programs Manager, Rachel Rommel to Painted Dog Conservation in Zimbabwe to educate staff there about bats.  Painted Dog Conservation’s (PDC) education program for the local communities focuses on the eco-system.  PDC was very eager to have Rachel  and Cullen contribute an amphibian and bat component to this program.   Enjoy Cullen’s bat update from PDC in Zimbabwe.

Cullen weighing bat

This is a brief bat update and photos that Rachel took of me and the bats living in our house. It’s really the only batting we have done besides wandering around with bat detectors. We’ll try to get more photos with the camp kids when we show them the bats next week. The housing for visiting scientists at Painted Dog Conservation in Zimbabwe shelters a large colony of bats that we hear squeaking and moving about day and night. To find out what species we are cohabitating with, we devised a plan to capture a few.

Rachel, Cullen and Greg Mist-netting for bats

We taped a very short mist net (2.6 meters long and about 2.6 meters high) to some poles and, once it got dark, we observed the direction the bats were taking as they flew out of their roost. We quickly positioned the net right in their path and, after intercepting four, swung the net out of their way because we would only need a few to confirm species. I gingerly extracted each from the net and placed it in its own cloth holding bag. I could tell from the shape of the face and ears and presence of a free tail extending beyond the tail membrane more than one-third of its length that we had captured a species of free-tailed bat in the family Molossidae.

Cullen measuring bat

I then consulted Bats of Southern and Central Africa to determine the species based first on forearm measurement and then on description. Our cohabitants turn out to be Mops midas, or Midas free-tailed bat, a large species (forearm = 61 mm, mass = 45 g) associated with hot, low-lying savanna and woodlands in southern Africa. We captured two lactating females, one pregnant female, and one scrotal male suggesting that our house is being used as a maternity roost and that the noise we hear during the night are mothers coming back to feed their young.

Adults of this species eat insects, mainly beetles, which are very abundant in the area. After measuring and weighing our captives, we released them to go about their nightly forays.

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Sep
15

White-nose Syndrome affecting bat populations

Posted by in Texas

Something is killing whole wintering populations of bats in North America as they hibernate in caves and mines. Bats are losing their fat reserves long before the winter is over and are dying of starvation.

This affliction has been given the name white–nose syndrome (WNS) because of the telltale white fungus growing on the noses of some infected bats. Only recently described as a new species, White-nose syndrome may appear on the wings, ears, and/or tail membranes of afflicted bats, but may also be absent

White–nose syndrome is not well understood and scientists are investigating all potential aspects of this mysterious disease. One popular hypothesis focuses on the fungus itself, a cold–habitat obligate that thrives from 5 to15ºC—the same range of temperatures typical of bat hibernacula. White–nose syndrome infects hibernating bats as their bodies are cold and amenable to its growth. Infected bats may arouse from hibernation to attempt to deal with the fungal infection and in doing so prematurely burn up their fat stores and starve to death in midwinter.

Bats are an essential and beneficial part of the ecosystem. Bats play critical roles in insect control, plant pollination, seed dissemination, cave ecosystems, and provide food for other animals.

In the eastern United States, mortality typically exceeds 90% in hibernating colonies affected by WNS.  While WNS has not been reported in the western United States, the general consensus is that it will eventually spread to many regions of North America.

To view bats locally, try the Waugh Drive Bridge Bat Colony near downtown Houston http://www.buffalobayou.org/WaughBatColony.htm

For more information on White-nose Syndrome you may go to http://www.fws.gov/WhiteNoseSyndrome/

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Feb
10

Bats of Texas

Posted by in Animal Origins & Fun Facts,Featured,Texas,Travel,What You Can Do

A good friend put this together for us a few years ago – “pre-blog” and we thought it was a timely article to review. With spring weather right around the corner, many bats will begin their yearly migrations while others who “stay put” will give birth – both lead to more potential interactions with people. Remember – do not ever handle a bat, call an animal control specialist if you find an injured bat on the ground. For more information on Houston’s resident Waugh Drive Bridge Bat Colony – visit the link.

Bat emergence at Bracken cave

Bat emergence at Bracken cave

Everything is bigger and better in Texas- even when it comes to bat diversity.  Thirty-three species of bats have been recorded in the state, which makes the Lone Star State the “battiest” in the country.   Bats can be found in a variety of places- caves, cliff crevices, tree hollows, tree foliage, behind lose bark, under bridges, and in the occasional building.   Some bats roost in very large numbers, such as the Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis), and can be seen each night as they emerge to forage.  In fact, viewing the nightly emergence of Mexican free-tailed bats is becoming an increasingly popular nature tourism opportunity in some parts of the state.  Other bats are hardly noticed, such as the eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) that lives alone in tree foliage or the northern yellow bat (Lasiurus intermedius) that lives within the dead fronds of palm trees.  

You may notice bats in your neighborhood as they feed around street lights or as they drink from open bodies of water.   Most Texas bats are insectivorous.  They are the primary consumers of night-flying insects, many of which are costly agriculture pests.  Current research on the Mexican free-tailed bat, for instance, has shown that a single bat can consume up to 2/3 of its body weight in insects each night.  Many of these insects are the same ones that farmers spend millions of dollars each year trying to control, including the corn/cotton boll worm moth (Helicoverpa zea).  Thanks to resident bats, farmers can reduce the amount of pesticides that they would otherwise use to control these costly pests.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is committed to bat conservation and works with partners throughout the state toward that objective.  The East Texas Rare Bat Working Group focuses on surveys and management of two rare bats that are closely associated with bottomland hardwood forest habitats, the Rafinesque’s big-eared bat (Rafinesque’s big-eared bat) and the southeastern myotis (Myotis austroriparius).  Other conservation efforts include the Texas Bat Viewing Site Forum which coordinates research and management of bat-viewing sites known throughout the state.  Public outreach is certainly an important part of bat conservation.  TPWD works with groups such as the Texas Master Naturalist Program to help spread the positive information about bats. 

Many people fear bats because they are active at night and are the subjects of numerous myths, including that they are blind and will fly into your hair.  Bats can actually see quite well, but also use a system of ultrasonic navigation called echolocation.   People also fear bats because they can potentially transmit the rabies virus.  Bats can contract rabies, like any other wild mammal, but the chances are actually very low- less than one-half of one percent – that any bat you might come in contact with actually has rabies.  It is very important, however, that people should never touch a bat with your bare hands and kids, especially, should know to always inform an adult if they find a bat on the ground.  For more information about bats and rabies, visit the Center for Disease Control’s website.

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