Bats

Important Bat Facts

Spieces in Slovakia
Podkovar velky (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum)
Podkovar maly (Rhinolophus emarginatus)
Netopier brvity (Myotis emarginatus)
Netopier obycajny (Myotis myotis)
Netopier ostrouchy (Myotis blythi)
Vecernica pozdna (Eptesicus serotinus)
Uchana cierna (Barbastella barbastellus)
Uchac svetly (Plecotus auritus)
Netopier fuzaty (Myotis mystacinus)
Netopier vodny (Myotis daubentoni)
Vecernica severska (Eptesicus nilssoni)
Uchac sivy (Plecotus austriacus)

The world's smallest mammal is the bumblebee bat of Thailand, weighing less than a penny. Giant flying foxes that live in Indonesia have wingspans of nearly six feet. The common little brown bat of North America is the world's longest lived mammal for its size, with life-spans sometimes exceeding 32 years. Mexican free-tailed bats sometimes fly up to two miles high to feed or to catch tail-winds that carry them over long distances at speeds of more than 60 miles per hour. The pallid bat of western North America is immune to the stings of scorpions and even the seven-inch centipedes upon which it feeds. Fishing bats have echolocation so sophisticated that they can detect a minnow's fin as fine as a human hair, protruding only two millimeters above a pond's surface. African heart-nosed bats can hear the footsteps of a beetle walking on sand from a distance of more than six feet. Red bats that live in tree foliage throughout most of North America can withstand body temperatures as low as 23 degrees F. during winter hibernation. Tiny woolly bats in West Africa live in the large webs of colonial spiders. The Honduran white bat is snow white with a yellow nose and ears. It cuts large leaves to make "tents" that protect its small colonies from jungle rains. Disk-winged bats of Latin America have adhesive disks on both wings and feet that enable them to live in unfurling banana leaves (or even walk up a window pane!). Frog-eating bats identify edible from poisonous frogs by listening to the mating calls of male frogs. Frogs counter by hiding and using short, difficult to locate calls. Vampire bats adopt orphans and have been known to risk their lives to share food with less fortunate roost-mates. Male epauletted bats have pouches in their shoulders which contain large, showy patches of white fur that they flash during courtship to attract mates. Mother Mexican free-tailed bats find and nurse their own young, even in huge colonies where many millions of babies cluster at up to 500 per square foot.

Nearly 1,000 kinds of bats account for almost a quarter of all mammal species, and most are highly beneficial.
Worldwide, bats are the most important natural enemies of night-flying insects.
A single little brown bat can catch 600 mosquitoes in just one hour.
A colony of 150 big brown bats can protect local farmers from up to 18 million or more rootworms each summer.
The 20 million Mexican free-tails from Bracken Cave, Texas eat 250 tons of insects nightly.
Tropical bats are key elements in rain forest ecosystems which rely on them to pollinate flowers and disperse seeds for countless trees and shrubs.


In the wild, important agricultural plants, from bananas, breadfruit and mangoes to cashews, dates, and figs rely on bats for pollination and seed dispersal. Tequila is produced from agave plants whose seed production drops to 1/3,000th of normal without bat pollinators. Desert ecosystems rely on nectar-feeding bats as primary pollinators of giant cacti, including the famous organ pipe and saguaro of Arizona. Bat droppings in caves support whole ecosystems of unique organisms, including bacteria useful in detoxifying wastes, improving detergents, and producing gasohol and antibiotics. An anticoagulant from vampire bat saliva may soon be used to treat human heart patients. Contrary to popular misconception, bats are not blind, do not become entangled in human hair, and seldom transmit disease to other animals or humans. All mammals can contract rabies; however, even the less than a half of one percent of bats that do, normally bite only in self-defense and pose little threat to people who do not handle them. Bats are exceptionally vulnerable to extinction, in part because they are the slowest reproducing mammals on earth for their size, most producing only one young annually. More than 50% of American bat species are in severe decline or already listed as endangered. Losses are occurring at alarming rates worldwide. Loss of bats increases demand for chemical pesticides, can jeopardize whole ecosystems of other animal and plant species, and can harm human economies.

Bats (Order - Chiroptera) are the only mammals capable of "true" flight. They are nocturnal feeders and locate their prey - small to medium sized insects - by echolocation. Bats consume vast amounts of insects making them very effective pest control agents. They may eat as much as their weight in insects per day.

Range

Out of the 39 known families world wide, 4 occur in North America. Bats are probably exceeded only by rodents as the most numerous mammals on earth. Return to the top of this page, or back to the home page.

Habitat

Social bats may roost in caves, buildings, hollow trees, animal burrows, abandoned mines and other protected areas, while solitary bats may live among leaves or under the bark of trees, rock crevices and other suitable spaces. In winter some bat species migrate to warmer climates up to 1000 miles away to feed; others hibernate in the regions of their summer roosts. There are three general types of bat gathering places: day roosts, night roosts and hibernacula. Maturnity roost comprised of only females, may be found in; i.e. buildings or mine shafts with temperatures up to 40 degrees celsius and a high percentage of humidity to ensure rapid growth in the young. Female bats give birth to only one or two young annually and roost in small or large numbers. Males may live singly or in small groups but scientists are still unsure of the whereabouts of most males in summer. Many bats use one or more night roosts to rest and digest food. It is also thought that night roosts may be used as locations to share information about prey availability. Winter hibernacula are shared by both males and females of the same species and may be several hundred kilometers away from summer roosts. The largest known winter population in B.C. consisted of about 50 bats while in Eastern Canada 10 - 15,000 bats roost together. The temperature of the hibernacula is extremely important to the survival of the bats. If the temperature drops below 0 o C the bats will freeze to death or die of starvation. In too warm a place, bats will starve to death due to the rise in the metabolic rate causing the burn-up of all stored fat reserves. An intensive inventory of potential hibernation sites in B.C. is still required. When bats roost in buildings they often get into conflict with people due to human ignorance or the noise and guano (droppings) the bats generate. Eviction and exclusion are safe and permanent solutions to the problem. Bats often choose buildings for their suitability as nurseries and can be quite persistent in trying to get in. A gap as small as 5 mm is a potential access point. To pinpoint entrances observe leaving or returning bats at dusk, and watch for scratches, stains from body oils and droppings. Screening of access points is very effective since unlike rats and squirrels bats cannot chew through wire. The openings must not be covered during the summer (day or night) since there might be flightless young in the roost who would starve to death. The best time to permanently seal off openings and keep them from returning is late autumn or winter when bats have already migrated or left to hibernate. There is no evidence that chemicals (i.e. moth balls) or ultrasonic devices repel bats. Ultrasonic noise makers may attract bats, while mothballs (naphthalene) are toxic and dangerous to humans and pets. Other poisons may weaken the bats and could therefore increase contact between bats and humans or pets. Weakened bats may also be more susceptible to other diseases i.e. rabies. Do not use pesticides to "protect" or rid yourself from bats. Bats are protected under the BC Provincial Wildlife Act and special permits must be obtained to kill them. The chance of being "attacked" by a rabid bat is extremely rare in B.C. As a precaution avoid handling bats altogether, but should it be necessary, thick leather gloves should be worn to touch live bats and disposable plastic ones to deal with dead bats.

Conservation

Eight of the 16 bat species in B.C. are currently listed as potentially endangered or threatened. Bats eat tonnes of insects per year and are therefore susceptible to poisoning by pesticides, especially organochlorines (like DDT). These poisons accumulate in the fatty tissues and are released during hibernation, migration or stress and can also be passed on to nursing young. Bats also pick up toxins from roofing and insulation materials and treated wood (i.e. Lindane) and PCP (pentachloropherol). Roosts should never be treated with chemicals. To encourage bat populations in your neighborhood but not in your attic, bat houses are a "human-friendly" solution. Habitat loss due to clear cutting and other forestry practices is one of the major conservation concerns. Tree inhabiting bats like the Hoary Bat ( Lasiurus cinereus ), Western Red Bat ( Lasiurus blossevillii ) and the Silver-haired Bat ( Lasionycteris noctivagans ) are adversely affected. The Keen's Long-eared Myotis ( Myotis keenii ), a rare bat restricted almost entirely to the coastal forests of B.C. is assumed to be dependent on old growth forests. All bats need clean drinking water. Pesticide use and some logging practices contaminate streams, ponds and lakes, continuing to endanger bat populations and their habitat.

Chranene nalezisko DUBNICKE BANE katastralne uzemie Cervenica, vyhlasene roku 1964, rozloha 6 ha Predmetom ochrany je zimovisko 12 zistenych druhov netopierov, ktore tu v byvalych opalovych baniach na Libanke s labyrintom stolni a podzemnych priestorov nasli vhodne ekologicke podmienky pre prezimovanie. Pri chiropterologickych vyskumoch, ktore uskutocnovalo oddelenie Muzea SR v Presove, bolo v rokoch 1960-1962 zistenych v Libanke 8 druhov netopierov:

Chranena oblast - Dubova hora

Hlavnou naplnou nasej cinnosti je vyskum, monitoring a ochrana netopierov na uzemi zapadneho Slovenska a verejnosti znama akcia 'Pomoc ropucham pri jarnych migraciach' na Zeleznej studienke v Bratislave. Netopiere skumali v Malych Karpatoch, Kovacovskych kopcoch, Tribeci, Vtacniku, Bielych Karpatoch, Povazskom Inovci, Pohronskom Inovci, Strazovskych vrchoch a prilahlych oblastiach. Zimne scitanie s pozitivnym nalezom netopierov realizovali na 55 lokalitach, nettingy na 7 lokalitach a v letnom obdobi skontrolovali 79 objektov s potencialnym vyskytom netopierov, z coho bolo 27 pozitivnych. Spolu to predstavuje 42 terennych akcii. Vysledky svojej prace prezentovali na vystave Expo Science International '97 v juhoafrickej Pretorii, v nemeckom Mansfelde na konferencii Zur Situation der Mopsfledermaus Barbastella barbastellus in Europa, v Mlynkoch na vedeckej konferencii Vyskum, ochrana a vyuzivanie jaskyn, vo Zvolene na odbornej konferencii Vyskum a ochrana cicavcov na Slovensku a v Budapesti na seminari venovanom ochrane lietavca stahovaveho v Europe. Tento rok uspesne ukoncili pre SAZP Trencin vyskum netopierov na uzemi byvaleho okresu Trencin a pokracuju vo vyskume a monitoringu pre SCHKO Ponitrie. Uzko spolupracuju so siedmimi jaskyniarskymi skupinami Slovenskej speleologickej spolocnosti. Velmi dobre sa im osvedcila spolupraca s viacerymi bratislavskymi organizaciami (napr. MV SZOPK, Sloboda zvierat), ktore poskytuju obcanom Bratislavy v pripade nalezu netopiera, napr. v byte, ich telefonne cislo. Nasledne robia vyjazd a odchyt tychto 'zatulancov'. Kazdy obcan potom dostane zakladne informacie o netopieroch a propagacny material. Zima 1997 bola dost atypicka, co sa prejavilo aj vyrazne nizsim poctom migrujucich ropuch na Zeleznej studienke. V roku 1997 sa prenieslo a teda zachranilo necelych 6 800 jedincov. Usmrtenych bolo iba nieco cez 100. Nizka teplota pocas celeho zimneho obdobia 96-97 pravdepodobne natolko vycerpala ropuchy, ze neboli schopne premigrovat do rybnikov. Zabrany stavalo priblizne 100 nadsencov a prenos ziab do rybnikov zabezpecovalo vyse 200 ucastnikov. Tento rok sa akcia 'Pomoc ropucham pri jarnych migraciach' na Zeleznej studienke uskutocni uz po trinasty raz.

home