O•S•C•A•R© - Old Ottawa South

The th Page 24 OSCAR - OUR 37 YEAR
July 2010
BACKYARD NATURALIST
Can You Spot a Bat?
by Linda Burr
One summer day, my daughter and I found a small bat curled up in
an old willow stump at Windsor Park. We peered in amazement
at its little furry body, which seemed fragile and mysterious. Bats
are secretive creatures, and it’s a rare event to see one during the daytime.
This summer, when you’re out in the neighbourhood at dusk, look around
and see if you can spot a fluttering bat.
There are about six species of bats known to occur regularly in the
Ottawa area. Two species come into more frequent contact with humans
because they regularly make use of buildings: Big Brown Bats and Little
Brown Bats. In the spring, these bats leave their winter hibernation sites
and seek out smaller summer roosts. Attics of houses make ideal nursery
colonies, where the females give birth to one baby (occasionally twins),
born between late May and early July. These nursery colonies may be
used year after year, because the bats like to return to the places they were
born.
Many people are afraid of bats, but once you know more about them,
you’ll see there is nothing to fear. In fact, bats need our good will more
than ever. If you find a bat flying around inside your home or cottage this
summer, please don’t kill it. A much easier solution to get rid of the bat
is to simply open a window, turn on the lights, and let the bat find its way
out. Contrary to popular belief, bats can see quite well, and they can find
an opening such as a window fairly easily.
Cottagers and home-owners may discover bats roosting in their attics,
and decide to evict them. The best plan, if bats must be evicted, is to wait
until fall, when the bats depart, and seal up the entrances so they cannot
get back in. If you do find a bat, don’t try to touch it or pick it up. Bats can
carry rabies, and although rabies is very rare in bats, it’s better to play it
safe.
Bats are an important part of the delicate balance of nature, but
we don’t always appreciate them or the role they play because of their
secretive nighttime habits. All the bat species in our region feed on insects
and consume many flying insects each night. Without predators to eat
them, these bugs could become a serious problem for us.
It is feared that many bats died off during the past winter from a
condition that has bat scientists puzzled. The first case in Ontario of bats
with “white nose syndrome” was confirmed last March from a hibernation
cave in the Bancroft-Minden area. The syndrome gets its name from a
white fungus that grows on the affected bats’ noses and wings during
hibernation. The condition was first found on bats in New York State in
2006, and has since spread throughout the northeastern US, and has now
reached Canada. Its cause is still not known, but it has been responsible
for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of bats so far in the US.
If you do catch a glimpse of bats this summer, count yourself lucky –
because there are probably fewer bats than ever before.
Linda Burr lives in Old Ottawa South and is a biologist and avid
backyard naturalist.