OSU wants you to know more about the benefits of bats

(MAY 26, 2023) Many people are scared of bats or have negative ideas about them. However, their appetite for insects turns them into a living pesticide that saves farmers billions of dollars a year. They also help get rid our backyards of insects like mosquitoes, moths, grasshoppers, flies and beetles. Some species are critically important pollinators for crops ranging from bananas to agave.

Still, there is plenty of false ideas that add to their scary reputation. Oregon State University Extension Service recently shared some clarifications. For example: 

• • • Bats aren’t flying mice. In fact, according to Bat Conservation International, they are more closely related to humans. 

    • Bats don’t get tangled in your hair. 

    • Bats aren’t blind. 

    • Of the three species out of 1,300 that feed on blood, only one targets mammals. All of these are limited to Latin America. 

    • Most importantly, bats are no more likely to get rabies than other mammals. However, in any given year, some bats likely do contract and develop the disease, said Dana Sanchez, wildlife specialist with Oregon State University Extension Service.

“People should report and avoid any contact with a bat that acts oddly, such as flying during the day, approaching people or crawling on the ground,” said Sanchez. She is a co-author of the new Extension publication Getting to Know Oregon’s Bats. “It could be affected by rabies or another disease, such as white-nose syndrome.”

Report sightings to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife website or by phone at 866-968-2600 or your local health department where professionals can advise you on the steps to take.

Bats need little encouragement to hang around. They make their homes in dead trees, caves and other dark, quiet places, including bat houses. You'll see them at dusk and can recognize them by their zigzagging flight pattern.

To attract them to your garden and to help with their conservation, you can construct a bat house or provide other places to live. Bat boxes resemble large bird houses. However, they are open on the bottom and separated into several narrow spaces. Patterns are available on the Bat Conservation International website.

“One of the biggest problems that bats are facing right now is loss of habitat,” Sanchez said. “We can try to mitigate that with bat houses.”

Other factors threatening bats, Sanchez added, are wind energy development, white-nose syndrome and broad changes to water and foraging resources due to climate change.

Of the 15 species of bats in Oregon, the most common are the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), long-legged bat (Macrophyllum macrophyllum) and big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus). The Western pipistrelle (Pipistrellus hesperus), the smallest bat in the U.S., weighs in at one-tenth of an ounce and can be found in Eastern Oregon.

More bat facts from Bat Conservation International:

• Bats are the only mammal capable of true flight.

• Bats can be found everywhere in the world except some islands and the polar regions.

• Bats hibernate in winter.

• The size of bats is quite varied. The bumble bee bat in Asia has a wingspan of only 7 inches, while the giant golden-crowned flying fox in the tropics of Asia, Africa and Europe can have one of up to 6 feet.

• Some bats are solitary and some live in colonies of 20 million.

• In addition to insects, some bats feed on fish, frogs, lizards and fruit.

• Many bats are listed as threatened or endangered.