With Halloween coming up in a few weeks, October is a great time to talk about bats. Our furry, flying friends are in trouble. Following is part one of a series on bats we are featuring this month. Please read and share – fostering an appreciation for bats will do wonders to help make their conservation and protection a priority.
– Doug
The following article appears in the fall issue of Habitat, Maine Audubon’s member newsletter. Interested in receiving Habitat in the mail? Join us today!
Maine’s Struggling Bats
It’s been a tough few years for bats.�While bats have always had a public�relations problem (they are not the�rabies-infested vampires portrayed in�popular culture) they have been struggling�lately with much more serious�issues. White-Nose Syndrome (WNS),�a disease caused by a cold-tolerant�fungus was first documented in New�York in the winter of�2006-2007 and has�since decimated populations�of cave bats in�Maine and over 5.7�million bats across the�Northeast.
There is also increasing�evidence that wind�turbines kill tree bats�during the breeding�season and migration.�Bats are attracted to�slow moving wind�turbine blades, but�no one is sure why.�Three migratory species�� the hoary bat,�the Eastern red bat�and the silver-haired�bat � make up the�majority of bat species�killed each year�at wind farms across�the country.
Despite these challenges for bats, there is some encouraging news for�Maine’s favorite (and only!) flying�mammals. The Northern long-eared�bat was listed this year as a federally�threatened species. The listing triggers�new efforts to protect its breeding�habitat and roost trees by creating�new guidelines for road work and�logging, and funding much needed�research efforts.
At the state level, the Northern long-eared�bat and the little brown bat�have been listed as endangered species�and the Eastern small footed�bat has been added to the threatened�list. Maine’s Department of Inland�Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) is�charged with protecting these rare�species and is working on education�and outreach efforts, as well as guidance�for homeowners, contractors�and forest professionals who encounter�bats and bat habitat.
While adding wildlife to the endangered�and threatened list is never�good news for the species, it does�mean that they (and their habitats)�will get additional protection � and�a healthy dose of education and outreach�that is desperately needed to�help increase the bat population.
What bats live in Maine? Find out in our next post!�
Meet Doug Hitchcox, Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist
A Maine native, Doug grew up in Hollis and graduated from the University of Maine in 2011. Throughout college Doug worked at Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center and was�hired as Maine Audubon’s staff naturalist in the summer of 2013, a long time �dream job.” In his free time, Doug volunteers as one of Maine’s eBird reviewers, is the owner and moderator of the �Maine-birds’ listserv and serves as York County Audubon board member and Secretary of the Maine Bird Records Committee.
