Species-Specific Management (SSM)

Bats

Capturing bats can lead to bites and unless the bat is analyzed, there is no way to determine whether rabies has been transmitted. Only a few carry rabies but the danger is real. Shots must be taken if the bat is not captured. Shots from an emergency room may run $1300 to $2500.

Capture the bat with the brain intact and have it checked by the state health department. Rabies appears usually within 3 to 8 weeks but may show after a year. There are about 25 human cases a year (since 1990).

Capture a suspected carrier by

1. Turn on room lights and close all openings
2. Wear leather work gloves and approach the bat when it lands
3. Place a coffee can, sturdy box or bucket over the bat
4. Slide a piece of cardboard under the box or can
5. Tape the cardboard into place
6. Punch holes so the bat can breath
7. Call the local health department for further instructions on delivereing the bat to a lab

Get further instructions (in Virginia by clicking to the Office of Epidemiology

Reduce the probability of bat contacts by:

• Caulk all holes (even small ones ...0.5 x 0.25 inches)
• Use screens on windows
• Cap chimneys
• Put draft guards at attic doors
• Put caulking or steel wool around electrical and plumbing holes
• Be sure that outside-opening doors fit tightly
• Cover all openings to areas where bats might roost
• If bats are present, in the early spring time, watch for their exits at dusk, then hang bird netting over the holes to prevent re-entry. In the summer, young bats may be trapped inside.
• Bats tend to leave attics to hibernate in the fall. Closing entry points at this time is a good idea.

Walker's Bats of the World is available.

Lacki, M.J., J.P. Hayes, and A. Kurta.2007. Bats in forests:conservation and management. Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore, MD 329p.

A pdf file is available from the Fish and Wildlife Service on the Indiana bat.

Another US Forest Service document on the Indiana bat in North Carolina with management recommendations is available as a sample for management plans for other species.

from a April, 2004 note from ATTRA

Bats are unsung benefactors for American agriculture. These beautiful flying mammals consume literally tons of insects per year. Bats are major predators of mosquitoes and moths. A big brown bat, for example, can capture and eat 3,000 to 7,000 insects every night. Unfortunately, bats, while extremely efficient at catching insects on the wing, are not effective in controlling insect populations that infect agricultural crops. Bats typically do not go after insects on the ground or on plants.

Information on what you can do to encourage bats can be obtained from Bat Conservation International in Texas, the Organization for Bat Conservation at Cranbrook Institute of Science in Michigan, and Bat World in Texas. See Resources below for these and other sources of information about bats.

Resources

Bat Conservation International, P.O. Box 162603, Austin, TX 78716-2603, 800-358-BATS (toll-free), 512-327-9721, 512-327-9724 FAX

Organization for Bat Conservation at Cranbrook Institute of Science, 39221 Woodward Avenue, P.O. BOX 801, Broomfield Hills, MI 48303, 248-645-3232, obcbats@aol.com

Bat World, 217 North Oak, Mineral Wells, TX 76067, 817-325-3404

Bat Conservation International. 2001. Criteria for successful bat houses. North American Bat House Research Project. 3 p.

Bat Conservation International. 2001. Small economy bat house. North American Bat House Research Project. 2 p.

Bat Conservation International. 2003. Bat houses. Catalog. 3 p.

See Neobat

This Web site is maintained by R. H. Giles, Jr. email RHGiles at vt dot edu
Last revision January 17, 2000., Jan 8., 2009