Myths and misconceptions about bats abound, but the folks at Mass Audubon’s Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary in Easthampton will educate interested adults and children at the program, “Bats at Arcadia,” scheduled for Friday evening.
Participants will learn about the lives of Massachusetts’ native bat species, as well as hear about the natural history, threats to, and conservation efforts on behalf of bats in the Bay State. The event will include a bat craft, a bat game, and going outside to search for big brown bats around the Arcadia property.
Arcadia Education Coordinator Patti Steinman said bats are our only flying mammals.
“They are highly misunderstood, which is really too bad,” she said. “It would be nice if people would be able to appreciate them as the beneficial mammals that they are.”
In Massachusetts, Steinman said there are about eight bat species present. The devastating disease, White Nose Syndrome, is having a major effect on bat populations in this region, especially the little brown bat.
“It has killed 5.5 million bats in the eastern U.S., as well as a few Canadian provinces,” Steinman said. “In some cases, in some hibernation areas, it will kill 90 to 100 percent of them.”
The disease has not affected bats who make their homes in attics and other similar spaces, or those that migrate to the south. But those living in large numbers in caves are dying off quickly. White Nose Syndrome is considered the most precipitous wildlife decline in the past century in North America. Steinman said people can help the situation by staying out of caves where bats are known to be present.
“It’s really altering their behavior (when people disturb them),” Steinman said. “They’re using up their stored fat reserves and coming out in the wintertime, and they’re dying.”
Other bat species known to be in Massachusetts include the hoary bat, silver haired, eastern pitistrel, small-footed, and the red bat. The Indiana species of bat is listed as endangered and experts aren’t sure if it’s still in this state.
“There are over 1,000 species of bats worldwide,” Steinman said. “That’s pretty astonishing – (they make up) about one-quarter of worldwide mammal species.”
Bats are amazing creatures, Steinman said, and many people don’t know a lot of the facts about them.
One misconception is that all bats carry diseases, especially rabies. Some bats can carry rabies, but it’s not as common as some people think.
There is a belief that bats can’t see well, when in fact, they can, and that they get stuck in your hair, when that is unusual.
Bats do use echo-location, where they emit sound waves that bounce back to them, enhancing their ability to find their prey.
Some people believe bats suck blood. While there is a vampire bat species found in Central and South America that does consume blood – mostly by licking blood after biting livestock – there are no such species that behave this way in this part of the world.
Steinman said people should be aware of how beneficial bats can be, especially their insect-consuming prowess.
“They are much better at mosquito control than insecticides and those zappers, and they’re a lot safer, too,” she said.
Because they’re mammals, female bats usually only give birth to one baby bat each year, making their population stability even more crucial.
The program, which runs from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday, August 10, is suitable for kids ages 8 and up. The fee is $5 for members and $7 for non-members. Registration is required, and can be completed by calling (413) 584-3009. Arcadia is located at 127 Combs Road in Easthampton.