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Spooky Critters in Need of Help: The Gray Bat

© Kate Staron

As we hang fake spider webs and rubber bats over cauldron of candy in preparation for our most ghoulish of holidays, lets not forget some of those creepy crawlies that are endangered. Small actions on your part may have a tremendous effect on how these animals live.

The gray bat is one of 9 endangered species of bats in the U.S. It used to be one of the most abundant mammals in the southeastern U.S. and played an important role in eating and controlling the populations of nighttime flying insects including mosquitoes. Weighing only 7-16 grams with a wingspan of about a foot it is relatively small. It eats mainly insects and lives in caves year-round. They hunt and feed over water, so caves within a mile or so of a lake or river is prime territory. Gray bats are known to be in the southeastern U.S., mainly in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee. Their range does include parts of neighboring states as well. They live in large numbers in a few caves, hibernating in the winter, and bearing young that are flightless from birth (late May) until July or August. These behaviors, when combined with human activity can be detrimental to the bat population.

Since they live together by the thousands in relatively few caves, and disturbance near one of those caves can affect hundreds of bats. If they are hibernating, the bats waste precious energy waking up that would be better served getting then through the winter when insects are scarce. If a bat runs out of extra energy it must leave the cave to forage for food. If it wakes up early because of disturbances and uses it's energy it may be foraging for insects in the dead of winter, leading to its eventual starvation.

When flightless young are present in the summer months, the baby bats must be held by their mother when they roost. A loud disturbance during this fragile time, may lead panicky mothers to drop their children as they flee from the intruders. If the drop does not lead to the bat's death, the starvation will since the mother may not feel it is safe enough to return before the baby needs food.

Even when bats leave, whether from an intruder or flooding of the cave, another cave may not be found, leaving the bats exposed and vulnerable to predation. This has become more of a problem as caves are flooded out by reservoirs and gating and commercialization of caves change the conditions of the cave so it is unsuitable for habitation for gray bats. They are highly selective in their caves, needing special conditions that very few caves offer.

The copyright of the article Spooky Critters in Need of Help: The Gray Bat in Endangered Species is owned by Kate Staron. Permission to republish Spooky Critters in Need of Help: The Gray Bat in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.