Bats aren't all blood-drinking pests

In fact, the coordinator of Milton-Freewater's STELLAR science program says bats have some great qualities.

Oct. 30, 2002 12:00AM By Cathy Grimes of the Union-Bulletin

MILTON-FREEWATER - Consider the bat. Some cultures revered the nocturnal web-winged mammals as Gods. The Chinese considered them harbingers of health and good luck.

They are the only mammals with the ability to fly, according to Bob Chicken, coordinator for the Milton-Freewater School District's STELLAR science program.

So how did they get the reputation for being nasty nocturnal blood-suckers?

Blame European fairy tales and people's fear of things that fly or go bump in the night.

The tales focus on one of more than 1,000 bat species, the vampire. Some vampire bats consider blood a major food group. But they don't suck blood. They lap it up, like dogs, after biting an animal. Vampire bats do not consider humans food. Instead, they focus on domestic livestock and hooved wildlife. Blood lapping vampires are not native to the United States, Chicken said.

Instead, the U.S. hosts bats interested in small rodents, flower nectar, fruits and insects.

Chicken said the 10 species of bats that live in northeast Oregon and southeast Washington are strictly insect eaters. The two most common bats in the region, the big brown and myotis bats, have bodies about the size of house mice and wing spans ranging from 10 to 14 inches. They are voracious eaters, capable of devouring more than 3,000 insects each night. They feed on moths, mosquitoes, gnats, beetles and other night-flyers.

``They're great mosquito control,'' Chicken said, referring to the bats as flying bug zappers.

Bat wings are actually their hands, with each finger forming a rib of the thin-skinned wing. The animals rely on hearing and a sophisticated echo-location system to find prey.

More than 1,000 species of bats exist, living on every continent except Antarctica. The animals are not related to rodents, though some species look like little mice. Bats can live up to 30 years.

Bats have their own family name: chiroptera, meaning ``hand-wing.'' The bat wing is a hand, with fingers forming the wing ribs. While they can hang upside down from their feet, they cannot walk upright because their leg bones are too slight to support their weight.

Scientists and researchers have found bats to be gentle, reticent creatures, but Chicken discouraged handling the creatures.

``Some will bite,'' he said. Additionally, about one-tenth of 1 percent of local bats carry rabies.

Bats may be mascots of choice for Halloween, but local trick-or-treaters are unlikely to see bats Thursday night. The little night-flyers dislike cold. Several species migrate south in winter. Those that remain hibernate until spring.

They roost in high, warm-out-of-the-way places. Rooks Park and riparian zones along area rivers and creeks are good candidates for bat habitat. So are overpasses, bridges and high eaves on buildings.

Those that dwell near buildings, such as the myotis bats, have been known to turn attics and chimneys into homes. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and Bat Conservation International provide tips for preventing attic-dwelling bats. Screening attic vents and regularly cleaning chimneys can help.

People can encourage the shy insect-eaters to live nearby. The Oregon wildlife department suggests building bat houses, rectangular wooden structures with open bottoms attached to buildings or trees. Chicken said Freewater Elementary School third-graders will build bat houses as part of a science unit later this fall.

``It may be a number of years before bats use the houses,'' Chicken cautioned. Bats don't like the smell of new lumber.

The state wildlife department suggests minimizing the use of insecticides in gardens and keeping cats in at night to create a more hospitable bat environment. Cats, raccoons, owls, hawks and black snakes consider bats a food source.

Chicken said he has had one or two close encounters with local bats.

``Like most people, I thought they were birds at first,'' he said. ``It was kind of a pleasant surprise to find out they were bats.''

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BATS
Visit the following Web sites:

Bat Conservation International, includes information about bat species and how to keep them out of human houses: http://www.batcon.org/

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife: http://www.dfw.state.or.us/ODFWhtml/springfield/bats.html

Jaguar Paw Bat page: http://www.jaguarpaw.com/bats.shtml

Bats4Kids: http://members.aol.com/bats4kids/sites.htm

Bat Conservation and Management, providing information about bat houses and keeping bats out of human houses: www.batmanagement.com

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife: http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/region1/batofwa.htm