2023’s Best States for Bat Lovers

What are three misconceptions about bats?

• Bats still have one of our planet’s finest records of living safely with humans. Bats harbor no more viruses than other animals. For anyone who simply doesn’t handle bats, the risk of contracting a disease from one is extremely remote. Learn the truth about bats on our website.
• Bats have excellent eyesight, they’re not blind.
• There are only three species of vampire bats and they only live in Latin America.

With increasing rates of population loss, what are three issues impacting bat colonies in the U.S.?

• Fear is the greatest threat to bats, it leads to intolerance and killing.
• Millions of bats are needlessly killed annually in the United States alone by careless operation of wind power facilities.
• There is now unequivocal evidence that climate change and associated weather extremes are accelerating at unprecedented rates due to human activities.

What are three ways the average person could help protect bats?

• Get a bat house. Use The Bat House Guide to find the most suitable one for you. If you don’t have a yard, you can be a leader in putting one up at your local garden, library, or community park.
• Tell your friends and family about values of bats. Educating humans is one of the best ways to help bats.
• Share Merlin Tuttle Bat Conservation resources, videos, and photos.

What are your top three tips for people who are going bat watching for the first time?

Just enjoy!

What are three misconceptions about bats?

• They’re blind.
• They have rabies.
• They get caught in your hair.

With increasing rates of population loss, what are three issues impacting bat colonies in the U.S.?

• White-nose syndrome.
• Habitat loss.
• Roost disturbance.

What are three ways the average person could help protect bats?

• Build a bat house.
• Have a wildlife friendly yard.
• Learn about bats/awareness.

What are your top three tips for people who are going bat watching for the first time?

• Start looking towards the sky 10 minutes before sunset.
• Look around for birds of prey.
• Don’t open your mouth when looking up.

What are three misconceptions about bats?

• They don’t want to fly in your hair. People have often expressed this to me. There is nothing about your hair that is attracting bats.
• They won’t bite you on the neck. Vampire bats are real, but they are found in Costa Rica and a few other Central and South American countries. They are not found in North America.
• They are not blind. People often think bats are blind. In fact, they are not blind. However, they rely on their sophisticated sense of echolocation. We can’t normally hear their echolocation. This gives bats the ability to navigate at night and to find prey insects and eat them in mid-flight. In fact, I use devices called bat detectors that transmute their echolocation to sounds audible to people. When you hear a “raspberry” noise through a bat detector, that’s probably a bat eating an insect in mid-flight. I’m scheduled to bat detect tonight — provided the rain doesn’t shut it down.

With increasing rates of population loss, what are three issues impacting bat colonies in the U.S.?

• White-nose syndrome is a fungal disease attacking bat populations. It is estimated that this disease has killed 5.7 million bats in the U.S. Tricolor bats (Perimyotis subflavus) and other bat species that hibernate in caves are especially susceptible to this fatal disease. Several bat species in North Florida hibernate in caves. Florida Fish and Wildlife has published information indicating that while our cave hibernating bats are at risk, so far there are no indications its spread to Florida. Biologists are monitoring the situation. Bats in central and south Florida do not hibernate in caves and can be active year-round.
• Habitat loss is another obvious problem. Bats in South Florida where I live and work do not live in caves. Our bats will live in vegetation such as wilted palm fronds and other tree roosts. I have found that Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) in South Florida have adapted to human development; however, there are conflicts that arise when they take residence in bridges and buildings.
• Bat exclusion from buildings is illegal in Florida during bat maternity season. Exclusion can be fatal especially when young pups are isolated from their mothers. Pups rely on their mothers for nursing and can starve to death. I wrote a blog about this issue.

What are three ways the average person could help protect bats?

• Become educated about bat facts vs. myths. Understand that there may be differences between the general information about bats that is readily available and what is factual for the bat populations in your area. For example, you might find information about bats as mosquito eaters; however, in my area of South Florida, mosquitoes are not high on their dietary preferences. People in South Florida will put up bat houses with the misconception that they will significantly reduce mosquitoes in an area. That’s just not factual. This has been confirmed by my colleagues at the UF/IFAS Florida Medical Entomology Lab in Vero Beach.
• If bats take up residence in bridges and buildings and become an unsanitary nuisance, they can be safely excluded by trained experts using excluder devices. This involves the use of screens and other devices to safely block bats from returning to their roosts. This process is only legal outside Florida bat maternity season.
• Bat houses can be alternative habitat for bats; however, as they say in that Kevin Costner movie “Build it and they will come.” I would modify that and say for bats “Build it and they MIGHT come.” Also assess where you install your bat house and why you are using it. I do not typically recommend that people install bat houses near human dwellings. They are likely best in natural areas to avoid the possibility of bats spreading into homes and office buildings.

What are your top three tips for people who are going bat watching for the first time?

• Use a bat detector. These are devices that can help you detect bat echolocation at night. Remember that bats have dark bodies. Its difficult to see them at night on nature trails, so these bat detectors are the way to go. Depending on the type of bat detector you use, you can scan frequencies and match up the bat echolocation with the species of bats in the area.
• Use mosquito repellent containing DEET. If you are bat detecting on dark trails at night, the last thing you want to worry about is being bitten by mosquitoes. Long sleeve shirts, long pants, closed toe shoes are also helpful.
• Do not stand directly under a bat bridge and look up with your mouth open. As bats leave the roost, they will expel their guano to lighten the load before flying. I think I’ll leave it at that and let you visualize the possibilities.
• One important point. Never, ever hold a bat. Bats can contract the rabies virus and transmit it to people through infected guano, saliva, and other bodily fluids. If there is a way to work that into the story, please do so.

I also want to mention that we have accessed bat guano for its fertilizer properties. That information should be considered site-specific to our study area in Fort Pierce (South East Florida).