Gray Bat
Bats, often referred to as "farmer’s best friend”, are very misunderstood animals. They are far more beneficial for our environment than you may realize. Bats eat enough pests per year to help farmers save 3 billion dollars in crop damage and pesticides.
Bats are one of my favorite animals. They’re so interesting! Bats are the only mammals that are able to truly fly; and though a lot of people equate them to flying rodents, they’re actually more closely related to cetaceans!
Gray bats have been listed as endangered since 1976. Before the Civil War millions of Gray bats could be found in Alabama, but they were continually disturbed by humans because their feces (guano) was harvested to make gunpowder.
Habitat: Gray bats are one of the few bat species that exclusively live in caves year-round. They specifically seek out limestone caves to roost in. Gray bats can be found in the southeastern United States as well as the Ozarks. Alabama is home to some of the largest colonies of Gray bats. 4 National Wildlife Refuges in the state provide protection for this species. These bats hibernate in the winter and migrate to different caves in the summer to feed on their preferred foods.
Photo courtesy of Adam Mann
Diet: Gray bats are also picky with their diets. After hibernation they make sure to find a cave in close vicinity to a body of water because they prefer aquatic insects, specifically those that have aquatic larval stages (mosquitoes). Juvenile Gray bats primarily feed on woodland insects such as beetles, mayflies, and moths because they cannot fly as well as the adults.
Threats to Survival: The biggest threat to this species is White Nose Syndrome, a highly contagious and fatal fungal disease that has killed over 5 million bats since it was discovered in 2006. Humans also play a part in threatening the survival of this species. If caves are explored and disturbed during the winter months while bats are hibernating, they become startled and wake up months before they are supposed to and end up using fat reserves that are intended for hibernation and summer migration. In maternity colonies, bats have been known to drop their young when startled and they only have one pup per year. 95% of remaining Gray bats are known to be living in only 11 caves, so you can see how awareness is so critical to their survival.
What role do they play in their ecosystem?
As I mentioned earlier, bats are nature’s own pest control. They have a pivotal role in the agriculture industry, but they also contribute to their environments by pollinating and dispersing seeds. Fun fact: Bats are the sole pollinators for the agave plant (the key ingredient to tequila)!
How can you help?
The best thing we can do to help Gray bats is raise awareness. It’s critical that people stay away from limestone caves during the winter where these bats could be hibernating. If disturbed, their fat reserves can deplete and cause them to starve to death.
Sources
Madison Boone. Gray Bat. Encyclopedia of Alabama, November 21, 2019, http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-4160. Accessed October 21, 2021.
Gray Bat (Myotis grisescens) Fact Sheet. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, May 17, 2019, https://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/mammals/grbat_fc.html. Accessed October 21, 2021.
