WNS: Can a Cure Be Effective?

7/12/2019
By Merin Tuttle

 

Amid media announcements that the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats has spread to California, and growing public concern, The Wildlife Society announced the most recent attempt to find a cure. On July 9, an article titled “Bacteria treatment helps bats survive white-nose syndrome,” suggested progress toward a cure. However, there is no evidence that human intervention can slow the spread or cure the disease. As I’ve reported, the best available studies from the Northeast indicate that population recovery at key sites is exceeding expectations, and that a cure is unnecessary, impractical to implement, and risks unintended negative consequences. 

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A School Where Bats Are Welcome

7/11/19
By Merlin Tuttle

 

Ariel Miller documenting installation of her school’s new bat houses.

Skybridge Academy is doing something new! While many school administrators might panic at the sight of a bat in the yard, Ariel Miller, founder of the school in Dripping Springs, Texas, recently invited us to install two bat houses in her schoolyard. She hopes to attract hundreds of Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) and use them as teaching aids across Skybridge’s custom-made curriculum.

 

To put it mildly, the school is innovative! The yard includes a pair of pigs, a beehive, a vegetable garden, and now deluxe housing for bats. Students choose their own subjects and learn practical skills, completely omitting standardized testing. Skybridge alumni have an outstanding track record of achievement regardless of whether they opt to pursue higher education or another career path. (more…)

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Bats: An Illustrated Guide to All Species Gains Top Reviews and Sales

7/1/19
By Merlin Tuttle

The American version of BATS: An Illustrated Guide to All Species, published by the Smithsonian Institution, sold its first print run of over 5,000 copies in just three months. It also received high accolades from the science journal Nature and a prestigious Star Award from the Library Journal. The Library Journal verdict? “Far beyond the practical value of a guidebook, this is an important update to bat literature and one to savor, containing a wonder on nearly every page and proving that bats are indeed ‘intelligent, curious, comical, even essential animals.'”

A painted bat (Kerivoula picta) in Thailand.

 

The science journal Nature reported, “This guide by writer Marianne Taylor and bat conservationist Merlin Tuttle shines a light on the order Chiroptera, from the wee Kitti’s hog-nosed bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai, a candidate for world’s smallest mammal) to the ‘megabats’ of the Pteropodidae family. Meshing deft scientific text with Tuttle’s sumptuous images, it’s a superb introduction to the baroque morphologies and flying prowess of these beguiling beasts.”

A greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis) catching a katydid in Bulgaria.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thank You For Your Voice – Editors are Listening and Bats are Benefiting

By Merlin Tuttle
6/27/19

A reminder that our members DO make a difference! Leading news media outlets are changing tack, publishing more positive, and fewer negative, stories about bats as a direct result of MTBC members’ ongoing support and actions.

Your vigilance brings misleading articles to our attention. Your support enables us to carefully document and explain issues of concern. Your personal, diplomatic comments to editors influence their further actions. Media portrayal of bats cannot be ignored. It is key to broad public understanding and support, without which conservation progress could prove impossible.

The intermediate horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus affinis) ranges from northern India to southern China. It is one of the horseshoe bats speculated, but still unproven to have caused the SARS epidemic.

Since 2014, we’ve prepared and distributed 15 blog posts and 18 Bat Flashes providing counterpoint documentation in response to exaggerated, misleading, and often completely wrong speculation attempting to link bats to rare, but scary diseases. Widely distributed publications included “Give Bats a Break” in Issues in Science and Technology (subsequently translated into French and Chinese), “Fear of Bats and its Consequences” in the Journal of Bat Research and Conservation, and “Humans Shouldn’t Be So Scared of Bats” in Slate. Additionally, the science journal, Nature, published a co-authored response in its correspondence section, titled “Don’t misrepresent link between bats and SARS.” (more…)

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Bat Flash! New York Times Misrepresents Rabies Facts

 

Merlin Tuttle’s Response
6/25/19

For at least the second time this year, The New York Times has published facts involving bats and disease in a misleading manner. At a time when bats are in special need of conservation, scary speculation is extremely counterproductive. In February of this year, we issued a Bat Flash, and members contacted Times authors and editors to caution them about the negative impact of premature disease speculation.

Now bats need you to speak up again. On June 14, 2019, I responded with the following communication to The New York Times Editor:

I read with interest the recent article, “Bats, Not Dogs, Are the Most Common Source of Rabies,” by James Gorman. As a biologist who has studied and photographed hundreds of species of bats worldwide, I have personally documented instances in which thousands, even millions of bats have been burned in their caves due to misleading warnings that incite needless fear. In fact, fear of bats is often the single greatest impediment to their conservation.

I’m deeply concerned because bats are essential to whole economies and ecosystems upon which we, ourselves, depend. Their loss threatens our future, far more than any possible disease transmission. Education regarding the benefits of conserving bats is urgently needed. (more…)

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Cave Management Workshop with Bat Survey Solutions

5/22/19
By Merlin Tuttle

Merlin explains “chimney-effect” air flow and its key importance in providing cave-dwelling bats with cold roosts for hibernation and warm ones for rearing young.

Loss of essential roosts, especially those in caves, appears to be the most important cause of North American bat decline and endangerment. Millions of bats have been lost from single caves, initially due to saltpeter extraction for gun powder, and later when they were further altered for tourism. Some caves were even burned due to exaggerated fear of bats.

In recent decades, there have been numerous opportunities to recognize mistakes from the past as well as opportunities for the future. One way to address these issues is through cave management training.
Bat Survey Solutions held a workshop in San Marcos, Texas from May 7-9, where attendees were provided with examples of a variety of case histories and what they’ve taught us. 

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Member Night Bat Cruise

4/12/19
By Merlin Tuttle

This year’s member night bat cruise was, as usual, a fun event and included MTBC members from as far away as the United Kingdom. Due to unusually frequent spring showers, the bats have been waiting till sundown to emerge, but are still attracting large crowds of viewers.

Our April 12 cruise participants enjoyed a large, three-column emergence that began soon after sundown. If our August 16 cruise is equal to those of the past three years, the emergence will begin before sundown and include four great columns, a truly spectacular event, the best of the year. Leadership and above members receive first-priority bookings for these free nights with me and our staff. Space is limited. Make your reservations early. Don’t miss out!

Millions of tourists have watched free-tailed bat emergences from the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas over the past 35 years without anyone ever having been harmed.

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Bat Flash! Step Two to Help Cairns’ Flying Foxes

(Scroll down for action links!)

We want to thank each of you who contacted Mayor Bob Manning in response to our Bat Flash in March on behalf of an urgent threat to Australia’s now critically endangered spectacled flying foxes. We appear to be having important impact, as just reported by Sera Steves, Secretary, Bats and Trees Society of Cairns.

A spectacled flying fox (Pteropus conspicillatus) pollinating a black bean tree (Castinoperum australis), a prized timber tree in Australia.

“The mayor and council are visibly and vocally struck by the amount of email responses they’ve gotten, good work! However, they continue to hide behind the false idea that a dispersal is for the good of the bats. The welfare argument needs to be shot out of the air and the focus needs to be on tourism potential. The feedback from tourists proved valuable in response to an article in the Cairns post about dispersing the bats with pool noodles, pyrotechnics, gas guns, stock whips and air horns.”

Another step is still needed…

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Experiencing Texas Bats

By Renee Anna Cornue
4/22/19

As MTBC’s Photo Collection Administrator, much of my responsibility lies behind a computer screen. I’d seen thousands (about 120,000 if we’re being real) of photographs from Merlin’s most-active field work days, preparing me for what to expect as much as photographs can. I’d seen mist nets, harp traps, banded bats, guano piles, and evidence of the bats’ incredible diversity.

Though fortunate to see Austin’s bats in a variety of ways, I’d never worked with bats first-hand. On this trip, I was most excited to step away from the desk and learn how bats are studied in the field, especially surrounded by knowledgeable and talented peers.

As with MTBC’s past adventures, our trip was a hands-on working trip with invaluable time and expertise contributed by leading colleagues from varied specialties. We were in the company of expert bat researchers, photographers, videographers, rehabilitators, consultants and passionate citizen scientists as we searched for some of the least known bats in the U.S.

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Bat Association at Texas State Lecture

The Bat Association at Texas State University (BATS) in San Marcos is only a few months old, but already boasts more than 150 members. Its mission is to raise awareness and concern for these long neglected, but essential animals.

Merlin Tuttle speaking to the Texas State Bat Association at Texas State University.

The organization’s three main goals are to share hands-on opportunities to learn about bats, network with professionals, and spread awareness of bat values and needs. It is led by Jacob Rogers (President) and Danielle Cordani (Vice President), under the supervision of Assistant Professor, Sarah Fritts. They’re planning a wide variety of special events to raise interest and concern, including field trips, invited lectures, bat house building projects, and opportunities for graduate students to share their experiences.

 

Merlin was their invited speaker on February 26. His topic, “Planning a Career—Why Bats?” His mission was to introduce bats as a too-long overlooked gold mine of research need and opportunity and to provide tips on how to succeed as a scientist. His advice–Follow your passion. Address issues most relevant to humans. Practice strong science. Seek mentor opportunities. And learn to entertain. Of course, the message was well illustrated with “How to” examples, including photography and public sharing.

The response was overwhelming. Following his formal presentation, he was peppered with enthusiastic questions for another hour.

Watch the video!

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