Amazing Facts About Bats

• Bats see as well as other mammals and use echolation -- a biological sonar system--to detect objects as fine as a human hair.
• Bat are meticulous groomers and are among the cleanest of animals.
• Most species bear and nurse just one pup a year.
• There are more than 1,100 species of bats which account for nearly 25% of all mammal species. 42 bat species are found in the United States.
• Bats are found on every continent except Antarctica.
• Approximately 50% of all animals living in tropical rain forests are bats.
• Bats are essential to a healthy ecosystem and are responsible for keeping night-flying insect populations in check.  Just one bat will catch hundreds of insects in just one hour. A large colony of bats will catch tons of insects nightly, including moths and beetles, preventing billions of dollars in crop damage, not to mention the pesky mosquitos in our backyards!
• Bats pollinate many agricultural crops, including bananas, breadfuit, avocadoes, dates, figs, peaches, mangoes and cashews.

Bats Common to New Jersey

• The bats species commonly found in New Jersey are all insectivores, and include the Little Brown Bat, Big Brown Bat, Eastern Red Bat and Hoary Bat. All of these species have a long life span, living 18-20  years or longer.
• Big Brown Bats are a relavtively large bat, with a body length of 4"-5", and weighing 1/2 - 5/8 ounce.  These bats live in colonies and make their homes in caves, old mines, hollow tree trunks, and occasionally in the walls and attics of homes and buildings.  These bats will also live in man-made bat houses. After breeding, females will separate themselves from males, raising their young in nursery roosts. Big brown bats give birth to 1-2 pups from late May to early June.  Within 3-4 weeks, the pups will begin to leave the roost for their first flight.
• Little Brown Bats are little bats, with a body length of 3"-31/2" and a wing span of 6"-8" and weighing no more than 1/2 ounce. Little Brown Bats are insectivores and will consume 50% of their body weight in insects each evening.  Females reach sexual maturity at 6-9 months; males at 12 months. Breeding occurs from September-October.  The females will store the sperm until the spring for fertilization. Little Brown Bats give birth to usually 1 pup per year from late June -early July. The pups are independent within about 4 weeks.  Little Brown Bats will hiberate in clusters in caves, mines and occasionally hollow trees that provide a suitable microclimate where the temperature is maintained at about 40 degrees.
• Eastern Red Bats are solitary and are one of the few bats that will roost in trees, camouflaged by their red-brown fur to resemble dead leaves.  Eastern Red Bats are migratory and will overwinter in the southern United States and Mexico, returning north in the spring.  Eastern Red Bats also give birth to 2 - 4 pups from May-July.  Unlike many other bat species, young Eastern Red Bats will will remain with their mother after they have learned to fly and will roost together as a family group.
• Hoary Bats (so named because its fur has a frosted appearance) are North America's largest bats, with a body length of 5"-6" inches and a 16" wingspan and are found throughout the continental United States.  Like the Eastern Red Bat, the Hoary Bat is solitary, roosting in the foliage of trees. It typically gives birth to twins in late spring or early summer.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU FIND A BAT

Bat are sometimes found inside a residnce or outside on the ground.  As with any wild animal, a bat should not be touched with bare hands.

If the bat is flying around inside the house, the best thing to do is close all the doors to the room where the bat is flying, and open a window. Leave the bat alone and it will evenually find its way outside.

If the bat is not flying about, you can quietly approach the bat using a towel, thick gloves, or other similar material, and gently gather the bat up and place it in a small box or other container with a secure lid.  Alternatively, you can place a box, coffee can or other small container over the bat where it has landed.  Then, take a piece of cardboard and gently slide it between the box and the surface where the bat has landed (i.e., the floor, wall or ceiling) Keeping the cardboard in place, gently turn the container right side up.  Make sure the lid is secure but with ventilation holes so that the bat will have adequate air supply.

Contact a wildlife rehabilitator in your area.  SMWRC is one of several facilities licensed to handle bats in New Jersey.  For a complete list of rehabilitators, go to www.njfishandwildlife.com and click on the wildlife link or call. Additionally, a state by state list of bat rehabilitators is located at www.batworld.org (click on Local Rescue).  If you are unable to access that list, call Bat World Sanctuary at 940-325-3404 for help in locating a Bat World rescue center or a bat rehabilitator.

If you do not find immediate help, you can provide temporary care as follows:

Take a box with a secure fitting lid, line it with an old t-shirt or soft cloth so that the bat has something to cling to and can hang upside down. Please do not use terry cloth towels--bats can get caught in the threads and injure themselves! Put some water in a baby food jar lid or other shallow container.  Place the lid on the floor of the box next to a wall so the bat can hang over it to drink.  Make sure the top is secured to the box.  Some bats can squeeze through a crack as thin as 1/4"!

If you must handle the bat please remember to wear thick gloves. Although rabies in bats is rare, if you are bitten the bat will need to be tested.  Keep the box in a room where the bat will not get too warm or too cold and make sure the room is closed off from children and pets.

Please note: Like most mammals, bats can catch rabies.  However, less than one-half of one percent (0.05%) of bats actually contract the disease.  According to the Centers for Disease Control, it is not necessary to test a bat for rabies unless it has had physical contact with a human or domestic pet.  However, a bat will need to be tested if if is found in a room with a person who cannot reliably rule out physical contact, for example, a sleeping person, a child, a mentally disabled or intoxicated person.  If contact has occurred or is suspected, please contact  your physician or local health department immediately.

For more information about bats and how you can help them, please contact Bat Conservation International, P.O. Box 162603, Austin, TX 78716 or visit their website at www.batcon.org.

For anyone interested in reading about bats, we commend America's Neighborhood Bats by Merlin D. Tuttle, available at your local library or bookstore.