Last call to remove bats before end of season

(CNS): Bats living in roofs are always insect-eating species – not fruit bats – and each one eats up to 2,000 per night, as well as playing an important role in plant pollination, so if you find these harmless creatures in your roof, don’t think of them as pests but as critical components tothe Cayman ecology. If you have bats in your building they can only be moved out of buildings safely until mid-May when baby bat pups are born, so now is the time to call for help. Volunteers at the Bat Conservation Program say you can call them if you need help removing bats permanently and humanely, at 916-6784, the Wildlife Hotline at 917-BIRD, the National Trust at 749-1121 or contact info@caymanwildlife.org Bats not out before the deadline cannot be properly removed until November.

According to the BCP, to find out if there are bats in your building, go outside at dusk, just after sunset, but while the sky is still light, and watch. If you see bats emerging, do not plug the hole. Plugging holes can trap bats inside, forcing them into your living areas. Bats can be sealed out (not in!) using simple methods and volunteers are available to advise and/or recommend qualified professionals to assist.

Bats give birth to only one pup per year. Bat-pups cannot fly for several months and remain in the roost while their mothers go out to catch insects. For this reason, exclusions are not done during the summer when these flightless young are present. Often people don’t realize that they have bats in the roof until summer when they hear the young ones squeaking as the mothers return to nurse them in the quiet pre-dawn hours. To avoid the long waiting period, the Bat Conservation Program is hoping to reach everyone with this message in time so that bats can be moved before the mid-May deadline.

“Bats are harmless. Each one eats up to 2,000 mosquitoes and other insects, including crop and garden pests, every night. But, they should still be moved out of roofs to avoid odour problems. We want to help get bats out of houses and calm fears,” said Lois Blumenthal, Coordinator of the Caribbean Bat Conservation Project for Bat Conservation International (www.batcon.org) and Director of the Bat Conservation Program for the National Trust. “Our goal is for all bats to live in bat houses and no more bats in roofs.”

With the cooperation of Caribbean Utilities Co Ltd (CUC), Ron Moser’s Machine Shop and extensive volunteer labour, there are over 80 bat houses in all districts of Grand Cayman. They provide alternative habitat to help to keep bats from moving into roofs. Bat houses are a great success but bats won’t move out of roofs without an exclusion.

Bats are part of the balance of nature and helpful to humans in many ways, notably, the control of insects but they are also important pollinators and seed dispersers. Bats living in roofs are always insect-eating species. Fruit bats have never been found in roofs here and do not use bat houses. Bat houses can only provide habitat for three of the Cayman Islands’ nine species. The other bat species need forest and cave habitat to survive.

For free information, a map of Cayman Islands bat house locations, photos of local bats, or to download an educational slide show about the Cayman Islands Bat Project, visit www.caymanwildlife.org The National Trust Educational Program Manager visits local schools with a presentationabout Cayman Islands Bats and free information is also available on www.nationaltrust.org.ky