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Putting the Spotlight on Bats at ACLT

May 26, 2020 By Community Relations Manager

By Rachel Delbo, CCC Intern at ACLT

Around the marshes and woods at ACLT, there are several game cameras routinely monitored by volunteers. These provide a snapshot into the behaviors and habits of wildlife in the area. Regulars seen include raccoons, foxes, and great blue herons, but this time something a little different was spotted on camera. One of our volunteers, Ian Messent, recently captured a video of a bat catching insects just above the water in the Horse Swamp Creek. You can watch this nighttime video below:

At this time of year and especially in the summer, bats are a common sight just about everywhere in the state. On most nights at dusk, they will leave their roost and take flight in search of insects.  However, during the winter months, bats go into hibernation. They are only seen during this time if it is exceptionally warm, although this is rare. In those cases, the bats you are most likely to see are known as Big Brown bats, the only species in Maryland able to survive exposure to sub-freezing temperatures.

There are actually 10 species of bats in Maryland and they are divided into two groups based on their preference of shelter.

Tree bat species include:

  • Eastern Red bat (Lasiurus borealis),
  • Hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus),
  • Silver-haired bat (Lasionycterus noctivagans), and
  • Evening bat (Nycticeius humeralis).

Cave-dwelling species include:

  • Eastern small-footed bat (Myotis leibii),
  • Little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus),
  • Northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis),
  • Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis),
  • Tri-colored bat (Perimyotis subflavus), and
  • Big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus).

All of these bats belong to the order Chiroptera, a name meaning “hand-wing”. The bones in the wings of bats are evolutionarily comparable to the bones in our own hands, with a layer of webbed skin that allows them to generate lift and glide through the air.

Despite their spooky reputation, bats are highly beneficial to both humans and other species in their natural communities. Bats can consume up to one third of their body weight in insects in only half an hour and provide an estimated 3 billion dollars in pest control services for the US agricultural industry. As an added note, I’m sure we can all appreciate a few less mosquitoes flying around. 

Unfortunately, all of Maryland’s bat species are listed as Species of Greatest Conservation Need in the state. Their decline in numbers is largely due to the spread of White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), a disease affecting cave bats first discovered in Maryland in 2010. You can read more about WNS on Maryland DNR’s resource website here: https://dnr.maryland.gov/wildlife/Pages/plants_wildlife/bats/nhpbatdisease.aspx

Maryland’s bats have also been impacted by habitat loss, as have bats in many other states across the country. They are protected under state and federal law, but unfortunately many bats are still killed when they venture into people’s homes looking for shelter. The Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Service offers safe wildlife control options and DNR’s Nuisance Wildlife Hotline (1-877-463-6497) can be consulted for questions about bat exclusion. 

At ACLT, one of our Master Naturalists installed two bat houses in the Parkers Creek Preserve, one at Warriors Rest and another on the Goldstein Bay farm property. Although no bats have been spotted using the boxes yet, they are available for our little winged friends if needed. You can see what these boxes look like in the photos below.

Master Naturalist Kevin Donahue with one of the bat boxes he built just before installation. The exterior of the box has been painted black to help keep inhabitants warm in cold weather. Photo courtesy of Autumn Phillips-Lewis.
Bats enter at the bottom opening of the box shown here. There are multiple sleeping compartments which can host several individuals, protecting them from the elements. Photo courtesy of Autumn Phillips-Lewis.
Kevin Donahue and Jeff Klapper working to install one of the bat boxes in 2016. Photo courtesy of Autumn Phillips-Lewis.
One of the bat boxes as it stands today. A pulley system is used so that the box can be accessed by ACLT volunteers. Photo courtesy of Autumn Phillips-Lewis.

Much of the information in this article has been shared from Maryland DNR’s wildlife pages and the University of Maryland Extension Home and Garden Information Center. Check out these great resources to learn even more about bats in our state. As always, thank you to all of ACLT’s members and supporters for your help in preserving wildlife habitat in Calvert County. 

 

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Filed Under: Ecological Features, Front Page, Uncategorized

ACLT’s Wood Ducks are Earning Their Wings: An Update on the Wood Duck Box Program at ACLT

April 29, 2020 By Community Relations Manager

This is a follow-up to an earlier blog post. Read it here. During this exciting spring nesting season, ACLT’s wood duck family has been growing steadily. The numbers are in with a total of 53 eggs laid and 52 hatched from four boxes in Horse Swamp and Parkers Creek. This near-perfect hatch rate is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Ecological Features, Front Page

Reflections on “Whole Earth”

April 22, 2020 By Community Relations Manager

The notion of "whole earth" has meaning for some that goes back to the 1970s when people first saw a photo of earth by NASA. Below, ACLT Board Member Dr. Walter Boynton, Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, talks about “whole earth”. “First, we are all … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Front Page, Uncategorized

The Wood Ducks are in Full Swing this Spring at ACLT

April 9, 2020 By Community Relations Manager

Spring started early this year for wood ducks in the Parkers Creek watershed, with the first egg laid on February 23rd. According to local wood duck box monitors, affectionately known as “duckers”, this is the first egg of the season recorded in the county. For years, ACLT has participated in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Ecological Features

Amidst the COVID-19 Crisis, ACLT is Responsible and Proactive

March 30, 2020 By Community Relations Manager

Like you, we are upset and worried. We don’t like our world turned upside-down. We wonder how another pandemic has been allowed to form and quickly spread terror across the globe. Why didn’t humankind learn from the last pandemic, or the one before that, that we need to be proactive and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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