CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE
Halloween images of spooky bats and blood-sucking vampires are classically fun.
However, they have also created fear and misconceptions about these important animals. International Bat Week is from Oct. 24 to 31, and it’s a great time to bust some myths.
The Community Bat Program of B.C. organization — also known as BC Bats — is encouraging everyone to learn a fact or two about the 15 species of bats that live in British Columbia. Bats in B.C. are major predators of insects, devouring many insects that are considered pests to our forestry and agricultural industries. This makes them an important part of our economy as they provide millions of dollars worth of natural pest control.
Most B.C. bats only have one pup per female in the summer and they face many threats to survive. White-nose syndrome is a disease that has killed millions of bats in eastern North America. It is caused by a fungus that attacks them in winter when they are hibernating. It does not affect people or other animals.
“People can help us monitor bat populations by keeping an eye out for winter bat activity or dead bats. If you find one, report it,” said BC Bats program coordinator Paula Rodriguez de la Vega, who also cautions to never touch a bat with bare hands or allow your pets to contact it.
The Salt Spring Community Bat Program is working with B.C. government biologists to collect and test dead bats in order to detect white-nose syndrome. It has not been found in B.C. yet, but it is in Alberta and just south of B.C. in the Seattle area. People are asked to report the finding of dead bats online at bcbats.ca, call 1-855-922-2287, or email BCBats at info@bcbats.ca.
Bat Week also marks the time of year when bats disappear from our neighbourhoods, until the return of warmer weather in spring. As insect-eaters, our B.C. bats must leave their summer roost sites and migrate or hibernate to survive the winter. This absence means that this is the time of year to do home renovations that you have delayed due to bat presence. You can clean out and repair a bat box, or do bat-friendly exclusion work, without disturbing or injuring bats.
The BC Bats organization provides information and promotes stewardship and citizen science in partnership with the B.C. Ministry of Environment, and funded by the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. and the Habitat Stewardship Program.
For more information about bats and how to help them, visit bcbats.ca.