Bats have gotten a bad rap. For centuries, they have been deemed menacing and spooky, likely because of their beady eyes, razor-sharp fangs and fictional connection to vampires. However, there is more to these nocturnal creatures than meets the eye.
With more than 1,400 species of bats in the world, they are the second most common group of mammals after rodents. Over their 50 million years of evolution, bats have developed ingenious solutions to life’s challenges, from a built-in sonar system for finding prey to dexterous wings that create the fastest horizontal flight of any animal on Earth, bats come in all shapes and sizes, but there are a lot of commonalities.
All bats roost upside down as they have to fall into flight. Their wings resemble modified human hands, with elongated fingers and membranes that stretch between their bones. This unique structure allows them to adjust wing shape during flight, providing more lift and less drag, enhancing the maneuverability needed to catch insects in mid-air. In 2016, researchers recorded free-tailed bats reaching speeds of up to a hundred miles per hour, easily making the 10-gram bat, just about the weight of 10 paper clips, the fastest mammal on Earth.
Seasons often dictate where any bats choose their homes, and depending on the time of year they hibernate in caves or return to an attic. Because good roosts can be hard to find, many live in giant colonies with millions of other bats.
No matter where they spend their seasons, there are two main types of bats: microbats and megabats. Most bats are microbats, which eat insects like moths, that come out at night. Vampire bats are the only species of microbats that feed on blood rather than insects. But not to worry—they prefer to drink from cattle and horses, not humans.
The world’s smallest bat, the Bumblebee Bat from Thailand, has a body the size of your thumb, weighs less than a penny, and has a wingspan six inches. In contrast, the largest bat, the Flying Fox, has a wingspan that can reach up to six feet! They all, however, share one thing: they are tragically misunderstood. Bats are often portrayed as evil, rabid, hair tangling little beats. The truth could not be farther from the fiction.
Bats are cute little buggers. Ask any rescue group, and they will agree. With the disposition of a kitten and puppy dog eyes that beg for love and fruity snacks, bats are not only most definitely not scary, they are actually adorable. The tend to bond with their rescuers and can become a bit clingy – to the amusement of their handlers. Which is why it is sad to know that so many of their kind are listed as critical, endangered, and for some – nearly extinct.
Despite the myth that bats cannot see, their vision is fine. Because they hunt in near pitch-black conditions, bats developed echo-location, a sonar “ping” system that can calculate the distance, size, and shape of objects, such as a tasty mosquito. This is so sophisticated that some bats can detect an object as small as a human hair or recognize differences in echo delays of less than a microsecond. A single little brown bat can catch 600 mosquitoes in one hour. That is a lot of pinging!
In contrast, megabats typically live in the tropics and eat fruit, nectar, and pollen, however, of the 150 species of megabats, only 45 are indigenous to the United States, and only 15 typically roost in Virginia. These bats, like their smaller cousins, are all insect eaters. Bats play an essential role in pest control, pollinating plants, and dispersing seeds. Recent studies estimate that bats eat enough pests to save more than one billion dollars per year in crop damage and pesticide costs in the United States corn industry alone.
Across all agricultural production, consumption of insect pests by bats results in savings of more than three billion dollars per year. While many bats eat insects, others provide critical pollination for plants like peaches, cloves, bananas, and agaves. In fact, bats are the sole pollinators for the agave plant, a key ingredient in tequila! Fruit-eating bats also play an important role in seed dispersal, responsible for early growth in recently cleared rainforests. It was recently discovered that small bats are placing a crucial role in restoring decimated rain forests with each bat contributing to dispersing up to 44-65 large-seeded plant species.
In March 2005, then Governor Mark Warner signed a state law designating the Virginia Big-Eared Bat (Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus) as the official state bat of the Commonwealth, saying “there is no harm in designating a state bat, no matter how odd-looking the Virginia Big-Eared bat might be.” He went on to champion for their conservation, as well as all bat species living in the Commonwealth.
That advocation is needed now more than ever. About half of Virginia’s bat species depend upon caves for sleeping and raising their young. The other half rely upon trees, old logs, and buildings for shelter. Three species—the Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus fuscus), Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus lucifugus), and Evening Bat (Nycticeius humeralis humeralis) tend to roost inside buildings. In both cases, the bats are being displaced by tourists and homeowners.
In 2021, three bat species in Virginia were listed as endangered: the Gray Bat, Indiana Bat, and Virginia Big-Eared Bat. The reasons were bifold. The first was an increase in cave system tourism, which disrupts the bats’ hibernation. The second is perhaps the most daunting and saddening. In the last decade, a disease known as “White-Nose Syndrome,” a fungal infection, has emerged as a threat that could completely eradicate most, if not all, bat species in Virginia and across the globe. The syndrome has claimed the lives of more than five million bats since its discovery in 2006 and has spread across North America at alarming rates. The fungus can be transmitted from bat to bat, cave to bat, and even cave to cave as people inadvertently carry the fungus on shoes, clothing, or equipment.
In late 2009, the National Zoo started establishing a Virginia Big-Eared Bats colony. Forty bats, not yet infected by the fungus, were captured and moved to the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute at Front Royal, Virginia. Only eight survived the winter, reflecting the challenge of creating an artificial environment that matched the requirements of the species.
While scientists have created a possible cure, the dispersal to infected bats has proven to be a Herculean task with no clear answer in the foreseeable future. It has become one of the most important international conservation efforts for multiple reasons that exist outside the immense benefits bats provide to nature.
Bats do not get cancer! Research into their genetics has shown that some bat species have “long telomeres,” a DNA protein structure at the end of a chromosome that prevents the uncontrolled growth and duplication of cancer cells. They also may delay the effects of aging. Telomeres in humans are repaired by the enzyme telomerase, but cancer cells use that same enzyme to keep dividing and spreading. Bats repair telomeres without that enzyme, which has led many medical experts to believe there is a potential pathway to battle specific cancers and aging.
Vampire bats are equally important to humans. Their saliva contains a special chemical that prevents blood from clotting, allowing them to drink blood from cows and pigs. Scientists have used this chemical to develop approved anticoagulant medicine for humans suffering from blood clots and strokes.
And no, bats do not get stuck in people’s hair—they fly too well for that. They also rarely carry rabies, which can only be transmitted through a bite. The probability of that is extremely low.
So, the only question left, is what can you do to become a bat conservationist?
Virginians are turning parts of their property into bat sanctuaries by building bat boxes and reaping the rewards as bats reduce the number of pests in their yard and pollinate their plants. It is fairly easy to build your own box, with plenty of online DIY instructions, and most large stores sell bat boxes that fit a frugal shopper’s budget.
Feed hungry bats by minimizing the use of pesticides in your yard. A single bat can eat up to 3,000 insects in a single night! Bats are primary predators of night-flying insects, including many pest species.
Be a bat ambassador and spread the word. Learn about bats and share what you learn with friends and family. We can all benefit from a greater understanding of the world around us and the bats who are our nighttime bug-eating, seed-dispersing, and cure-holding saviors.