bat research Archives - Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation

49th NASBR in Kalamazoo, Michigan

November 7, 2019November 7, 2019 Teresa Nichta

The 49th Annual North American Symposium on Bat Research was held in Kalamazoo, Michigan on October 23-26, 2019. It was hosted by Amy Russell and Maarten Vonhofm amidst a quintessential Midwestern autumn. There’s no better place to keep up with the latest bat research technologies and discoveries or for graduate students to explore career options. Many of the researchers attend every year, developing lasting friendships and invaluable networking opportunities. Not surprisingly, this is Merlin’s favorite group. He hasn’t missed a meeting in 49 years. This year, Merlin joined Brock and Sherri Fenton and Price Sewell in presenting an enthusiastically received pre-conference workshop on bat photography.

Our hospitable hosts, Amy Russell and Maarten Vonhofm.

Merlin especially enjoys opportunities to encourage students in conservation-related careers and takes great pride in the achievements of those he has helped. Four joined Merlin for the organization’s annual “Lunch with a Mentor” program to discuss career path choices, conservation interests, and of course, to hear a few of Merlin’s wild adventure stories. They also got a perspective from Teresa who sat in on the meeting. (Check out Advice for Young People Interested in Science and Conservation)

Lunch with a Mentor: Erin Lowe, Jonathan Townsend, Merlin Tuttle, Lisa Sims, and Evan Balzer.

Many attendees were happy to share insights on the needs of bats. Through his 60 years of experience Merlin of course has many to share. He is increasingly concerned that many of today’s bats have lost preferred habitats and are often barely surviving in marginal conditions, especially those required for hibernation. Such bats can be highly misleading when their choices mistakenly are assumed to represent true needs, leading to inappropriate conservation measures. He was encouraged to see rapidly growing awareness of the futility of stopping or curing white-nose syndrome (WNS). He praised growing efforts to reduce disturbance and restore hibernation conditions key to recovery. Where ideal caves have been protected from disturbance and restored to meet bat needs, signs of stabilization and recovery are increasingly reported. Merlin believes that the severity of WNS losses has been exacerbated by already existing stresses that reduced the energy reserves required to survive lengthy hibernation. He notes that many bats have lost traditionally critical hibernation caves, increasing both the cost of hibernation and migratory travel. Food resources and summer roosts are also in decline. And disturbance during hibernation has greatly increased at a time when bats can least afford it.

Looking forward to next year’s 50th NASBR in Arizona, see y’all there!

Teresa and Merlin taking notes on the many interesting presentations.

The Diversity in Science Breakfast had the highest attendance yet!

Merlin and Vona Kuczynska discussing her poster about gray bat recovery, progress and future innovation.

Richard Carter purchased Merlin’s portrait of “Porky” the spotted-bat at the banquet auction. Proceeds support student scholarships. You can read the story of Porky in Merlin’s book, The Secret Lives of Bats.

Kathy Estes made a generous donation to The NASBR Spallanzani award and got rare bottle of mezcal, thanks to Rodrigo Medellin and of course, the bats!

NASBR OG’s Merlin, Pat Brown and Roy Horst! They’ve been at NASBR since the start.

Some leaves still hung onto their green color.

A Model Example of Bat Recovery Potential

September 25, 2019 Teresa Nichta

By Merlin Tuttle
9/25/19

Long Cave, in Kentucky, like many others, has a long history of human occupation with little record of prior use by bats. It was mined for saltpeter, a key ingredient of gun powder, during the war of 1812 and was subject to commercial tourism, probably beginning at about the turn of the century, ending by the 1930s.

Rick Toomey and Merlin Tuttle waiting for group to enter bat-friendly gate at Long Cave.

Huge passages trapped cold air and remained cool year-round, offering major opportunities for bat hibernation. Roost stains from past bat use were widespread, and the cave clearly had potential to shelter millions. As recently as 1947 some 50,000 bats, presumed to be largely the now endangered Indiana myotis (Myotis sodalis), continued to return in winter. Nevertheless, entrance barriers built to exclude non-paying tourists, increasingly restricted air flow, eventually culminating in a concrete wall and a nearly solid door. (more…)

Experiencing Texas Bats

April 24, 2019July 12, 2019 Renee Cornue

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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Counting Free-tailed Bats in Bridges

September 18, 2018January 22, 2019 Merlin Tuttle

9/10/18
By Merlin Tuttle

Merlin inspects Brazilian free-tailed bats (*Tadarida brasiliensis*) moments after removing them from their bridge crevice roost for counting.

For many years we’ve wondered just how many Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) could cram into a single 18-inch-deep bridge crevice. Accurate counts of large colonies are difficult no matter how they’re made. However, when estimating bridge colonies, it would help if we knew the number, using an average horizontal foot of crevice.

The solution seemed easy. Two years ago, Glen Novinger, an MTBC member and I, inserted two, three-quarter-inch-thick wooden frames, each encompassing a square foot of interior space, into bridge crevices of the same width while the bats were out feeding. The idea was to later slowly remove them, forcing those roosting inside to exit into a cloth-lined bag from which we would count them.

However, the bats were full of surprises. The first night we waited patiently till half an hour after we’d seen the last ones leave—or at least that was what we thought! But when we approached to install our devices, roughly half remained inside. I couldn’t help but wonder how many emergence counts had missed those that, for whatever their reasons, didn’t emerge at sundown. (more…)

Texas Department of Transportation Celebrates Bats

August 29, 2018January 22, 2019 Teresa Nichta

8/28/18
By Merlin Tuttle

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has set world records when it comes to helping bats, and that special help is paying big dividends for Texans and for countless visitors. Thanks to the enthusiastic early leadership of Supervising Bridge Engineer, Mark Bloschock and the continuing efforts of Stirling Robertson, now in charge of Strategic Projects, and John Young, an Environmental Specialist, TxDOT is taking great pride in its accomplishments.

On August 21, Stirling and John organized a special bat evening for 30 of TxDOT’s most important media and public information officers. They each received a copy of Department’s new guide to bat watching at state bridges, attended my 20-minute presentation at TxDOT headquarters, then joined me for a special Congress Avenue Bridge bat watching evening. We were delighted when we learned that Mark, who is now retired, would be able to join us.

Merlin speaking to TxDOT media and public relations staff.

Merlin entertaining TxDOT staff with bat facts while waiting for Congress Ave Bridge bats to emerge.

The bats performed beautifully, and Stirling reported, “There has been overwhelming positive response to your talk and the whole event. Good stuff!” A big thank you to Stirling for making this event possible! We look forward to future collaboration and many more bats in Texas bridges.

Emerging bats providing America’s most famous urban wildlife spectacle.

Mosquito Eating in Bats

August 10, 2018January 22, 2019 Teresa Nichta

8/9/18
By Merlin Tuttle

For decades, bat biologists have debated the extent to which bats prey on, and potentially reduce mosquito populations. However, recent research suggests bats may be eating far more mosquitoes than yet suspected. Amy Wray and associates (2018) relied on newly refined techniques that provide greater sensitivity. In their paper, titled “Incidence and taxonomic richness of mosquitoes in the diets of little brown and big brown bats,” they reported that these common species eat a greater variety of mosquitoes, and catch them more frequently than previously suspected.

They tested guano samples from 22 locations in a range of habitats, across the State of Wisconsin, from May 17 through July 29. Seventy-two percent of little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) samples contained mosquitoes representing 15 species, more than twice as many as big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus). But even the larger big brown bats, previously thought to feed mostly on beetles and moths evidenced mosquito-eating in 33 percent of samples. Frequency of mosquito-eating remained constant throughout the active season in big brown bats but declined slightly in little browns.

Little brown myotis (*Myotis* *lucifugus*) from Tennessee.

A third of big brown bats (*Eptesicus fuscus*) in Wisconsin fed on mosquitoes.

Bats and Chocolate Production

June 13, 2018September 21, 2018 Teresa Nichta 2 Comments

By Merlin Tuttle
6/6/18

While conducting her Ph.D. thesis research, Bea Maas and her team (Maas et al. 2013) collected data that would surprise even her. When insect-eating bats and birds were excluded from cacao trees in Sulawesi, Indonesia, the crop yield fell by 31 percent. And when she compared losses due to night versus daytime exclusion, bats versus birds, she discovered that bats accounted for 22 percent of the prevented losses.

A control site in the same study (poles without netting).

To obtain such data, Bea selected 15 plantations where she enclosed 120 cacao trees in 60 exclosures (like huge, mesh cages) constructed of nylon mesh. There were four exclosure treatments per plantation, one daytime, one nighttime, one day and night, and one always left open as a control.

A bat/bird exclosure in Sarawak, Indonesia, built with bamboo poles and commercial nylon monofilament netting with a mesh size of 2 x 2 cm. These were opened and closed like curtains daily.

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Success in Panama!

April 11, 2018September 21, 2018 Teresa Nichta

During both weeks of our workshops, we encountered periodic rain showers, keeping the normally hot, dry-season temperatures far more comfortable than anticipated. The downside was that we had poor netting results on three nights during the second week. We shared the forest with some interesting characters, such as a black jaguar, which fortunately left us alone, though it likely observed our activities. This one was photographed on a trail camera near one of our netting sites.

We set up a triple-high mist net almost every night, both weeks.

Departing to net bats over the nearby river. Daniel Hargreaves is carrying the triple-high net rig in the red bag. His team of skilled instructors from the U.K., Steve and Fiona Parker and Daniel Whitby, were superb.

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More Bats from Cocobolo

April 4, 2018September 21, 2018 Paula Tuttle 1 Comment

During our two-week stay in Panama’s Cocobolo Nature Reserve, we recorded more than 600 bats of 53 species, more than half the total number known for the entire country. Additional species were netted nearly every night, including two on our final evening. Over our two-weeks of workshops, common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) and greater fishing bats (Noctilio leporinus) were participant favorites, though an incredible variety of fruit-, nectar-, and insect-eating species were seen. The hardiest of our group members often worked till dawn, bringing in a steady stream of species for portrait photos, especially during the first week. By the second week much more time was devoted to training bats to come on call, especially to locations where Merlin could photograph natural behavior, such as catching katydids.

Merlin Tuttle training a hairy big-eared bat (*Micronycteris hirsuta*) to come on call to a leaf to catch katydids (its natural prey) in front of bright video lights needed for high speed video shooting.

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Some non-bat Cocobolo critters

March 24, 2018September 21, 2018 Paula Tuttle

We found dozens of creatures while out netting for bats, and even at base camp. We don’t have species names for all of them but here’s a small collection of some of Cocobolo’s non-bat critters…