Since have have bat populations on Santa Cruz Island I thought this information
might prove helpful.
Calm Seas,
Catherine French
Writer, mentor, naturalist
805.570.0432
We are given only so many days, make each one count.
Sent from my iPad Air
Begin forwarded message:
From: CDFW News <noreply+feedproxy@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: October 24, 2019 at 5:51:42 PM PDT
To: cfrench1366@xxxxxxx
Subject: California Fish and Wildlife News
Reply-To: CDFW News <CDFWNews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
California Fish and Wildlife News
All for the Benefit of Bats: CDFW Celebrates “Bat Week” in California
Posted: 24 Oct 2019 02:08 PM PDT
October 24-31 is Bat Week, an annual international celebration of these
fascinating winged mammals and the important role they play in our
environment.
California is home to 25 species of bats, ranging from the commonly found
Mexican free-tailed bat, a medium-sized bat that makes its home in caves,
attics, under bridges and in abandoned structures, and canyon bat, smallest
of California’s bats with a wingspan of about seven inches, to the western
mastiff bat, which has a wingspan of almost two feet.
Bats – which are the only mammals that can fly – can be found in just about
every corner of California. They serve several hugely important functions,
including pest management, pollination of rare plants and seed dispersal.
About two-thirds of bats are insectivorous. Each night, a bat will consume
between 50 and 100 percent of its own weight in insects. They protect our
food crops and timber industry – worth more than $57 billion per year – and
if it weren’t for bats, farmers might need to use far more chemical
pesticides than they do now. Nationwide, the service bats provide to American
agriculture by suppressing insect populations has been valued at an estimated
$4 billion to $50 billion per year.
Unfortunately, population declines have caused 17 of California’s 25 native
bat species to receive some level of state or federal protection. And the
threat is only increasing.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) biologists are preparing
for the possibility of the introduction of a fungus known to be deadly to
bats. In June 2019, the fungus that causes White-nose Syndrome (WNS) was
detected in low levels for the first time in Plumas County. The fungus –
Pseudogymnoascus destructans – grows in and on bats’ skin during winter
hibernation and spreads quickly through bat colonies. WNS has killed more
than six million bats elsewhere in the U.S. and minimizing its impacts on
California’s bats is a top priority for CDFW’s Nongame Wildlife Program.
“Given the huge impact WNS has had on eastern populations of bats, and its
occurrence now in Washington state, it is essential to be vigilant for signs
of an outbreak of the disease in California so we can take appropriate
action, when needed,” says Scott Osborn, CDFW’s lead for WNS response.
Californians can learn more about WNS, including how to report bats that
could be suffering from the disease, on CDFW’s website.
In addition to reporting bats that might be suffering from WNS, other ideas
to promote bat conservation can be found on the Bat Week 2019 website. For
example:
You can report bat sightings using the North American Bat Tracker, and help
biologists document the location and health of existing bat colonies.
You can take an urban bat walk in many communities. Contact your local nature
center, museum, zoo or other educational institution to see if a bat expert
is available to lead a walk.
You can build a bat house for your own yard, helping to promote a healthy
environment in your own backyard.
You can plant a bat-friendly garden that attracts night pollinators, like
moths, that bats like to eat.
“In addition to the important ecosystem functions they provide, bats are
simply amazing animals,” says Osborn. “They occupy a completely unique niche
among animals: they fly, they use echolocation to navigate at night and
capture insects in complete darkness, and many hibernate to escape the harsh
conditions of winter when their insect prey is unavailable. When you consider
all these adaptations are packaged in an animal that weighs about as much as
a nickel, you can’t help but feel a sense of awe.”
###
Media Contacts:
Scott Osborn, CDFW Nongame Wildlife Program, (916) 324-3564
Kirsten Macintyre, CDFW Communications, (916) 322-8988
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