The first bat has arrived...

for the season and is hunkered down in the bat house above the back deck.  I noticed several guano pellets on the deck this morning indicating the box was likely occupied, and I just confirmed it by peering inside with a flashlight.  Last year there were more than 80 bats in residence (I never got an accurate count).  Welcome back!

IR image of bats in flight...

just in time for Halloween:

Image credit: Live Science.

Fastest mammal muscles on Earth...

are the basis for echolocation in bats. Here's the technical abstract.

Remember, bats need friends.

Update on white-nose syndrome...

Helping Bats Hold On

Remember, bats need friends.

Fungus strikes but doesn't kill...

European bats.

Remember:  bats need friends.

Bat deaths...

could cost US billions each year. They are, after all, nature's pesticide. Also, note that so-called "green" wind turbines "will have killed 33,000 to 111,000 annually in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands alone."

Remember, bats need friends.

UPDATE:  More here with an interesting map.

RELATED: I am pleased to find that there is a big brown bat occupying one of my many bat houses late this afternoon.  I was surprised to see a few guano droppings, and sure enough, there's an early arrival in the box overhead.
 
Also, do your part: DIY - Build Your Own Bat House.

Carnivorous pitcher plants...

in Borneo are perfect for bat naps.  Here's the technical abstract: A novel resource–service mutualism between bats and pitcher plants.

Remember, bats need friends.

The race to save...

the bats.

Feds criticized...

in fight against killer bat disease.

Remember, bats need friends.

Dire situation for the nation's bat population...

Racing to Save Bats From Catastrophic Extinction, Biologists Turn to New Tools

Access to caves being restricted...

by government agencies: Bat Disease Threatens to Close America’s Caves.

Unfortunately the article does little to indicate if it has been proven that contaminated clothing is a significant vector in the spread of the bat-killing fungus. While conservation and protection of bats is important, where's the science in support of this policy?

'Year of the Bat' program...

launched by the United Nations.

Remember:  Bats need friends.

Kudos to the Venetians...

Venice Wants to Attract Mosquito-Eating Bats

Hat tip: LS - good friend, good neighbor, and animal lover extraordinaire.

Bear Grylls is no friend of wildlife...

as this e-mail from Bat Conservation International indicates (reproduced in full with no edits):

"A recent episode of Discovery Channel's Man vs. Wild featured Bear Grylls gleefully killing bats with a homemade club. The clip, which shows Grylls throwing a flame in a cave to "smoke out" the bats, swatting them to the ground and then stomping on them, has aired internationally and been posted on YouTube, allowing for continued access.

Though we understand the show is about survival, we feel that this clip perpetuates negative attitudes toward bats and could generate senseless copycat activity and/or the type of vandalism that is driving many bat species to the brink of extinction. Only four months ago, a Kentucky man was sentenced to eight months in jail after pleading guilty to beating to death 105 endangered Indiana bats.

Please express your disappointment at this anti-conservation message by filling out the feedback form on Discovery Communications website. Let the Discovery executives know:

• This episode undermines decades of bat conservation efforts
• Bats are an important part of a healthy ecosystem. They eat agricultural pests, disperse seeds to replenish the rainforest and pollinate a variety of plants. Many bats are endangered and the loss of a single species can have ramifications throughout the ecosystem.
• Viewers should be informed that killing bats-or even disturbing them-may be illegal depending on the species and country.
• We would like Discovery Channel to ensure this edition of Born Survivor and related footage is not aired again and that this footage is removed from Youtube, the Discovery Channel website and all other communications
• We hope Discovery Channel uses all its nature programming to forward conservation efforts.

Best regards,

Nina Fascione
Executive Director
Bat Conservation International

P.S. Help spread the word. Forward this to a friend."

Remember, bats need friends.

White-Nose Syndrome...

is unfortunately moving westward (click map to enlarge), having just been discovered in Missouri and western Tennessee, according to Bat Conservation International and other state and federal agencies:

"Since White-nose Syndrome was discovered in a single New York cave in February 2006, more than a million hibernating bats of six species have been killed by the disease in twelve states."

Follow this link to learn more about this devastating disease, and remember, bats need friends.

Desperate efforts...

to save endangered bats may fail.

Remember: bats need friends.

Arriving in the mail...

last week was USGS Circular 1329: Bat Rabies and Other Lyssavirus Infections. A copy of the excellent publication can be downloaded free of charge (3.9 MB .pdf file).

According to the data contained in the report, there were 51 cases of rabies transmitted from bats to humans in the US and Canada from 1951 to 2006, a rate slightly less than one per year. Compare that with the number of deaths associated with infant carriers, where the CDC reports that 26 toddlers died between 1986 and 1991, a rate of more than four per year.

This is not an attempt to minimize the danger of acquiring rabies as it has always (with only three exceptions world wide) been fatal. Indeed, I have been inoculated with the rabies vaccine since I regularly handled bats with my late wife who was a bat biologist. But it does seem that public health officials and the media overhype the threat of rabid bats each and every summer. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that raccoons, skunks and foxes are the greater threat.

The bottom line: if you encounter a wild animal that allows you to approach it while on the ground, then it is likely unhealthy and should be left alone. More importantly, teach your kids to call an adult if they encounter any animal in the wild.

Remember: bats need friends.

Bats hit their target...

by not aiming at it. Interestingly, Egyptian fruit bats (shown above, click to enlarge), along with other species in the genus Rousettus, are the only megachiropterid bats to use echolocation.

Remember, bats need friends.

Listen to your mother...

Mother Bats Expert at Saving Energy: Study Shows Wild Female Bats’ Temperature Regulation Strategy Is Flexible

Remember, bats need friends.

Anatomical basis for echolation...

in bats studied in 3-D. Here's the techno-info on this latest research.

Remember, bats need friends.