- A free educational bat program was held Friday at Louise Moore Park
- The program was led by officials from Northampton and Carbon counties
- Bats are an important part of the local ecosystem, but they’re threatened by disease
LOWER NAZARETH TWP., Pa. — Sue Gallagher hoped there’d be a few people in the crowd Friday evening with a fear of bats.
“I hope some of you did come here because you're a little bit afraid of bats,” said Gallagher, chief naturalist for the Carbon County Environmental Education Center.
“Because they’re the kind of people I like to have an audience so that I could help you address it.
“If you are a little bit spooked about bats, just rest assured, nobody's gonna be flying loose. I'm not going to turn anybody loose. If there are bats under this pavilion that start flying, they’re not mine.”
Gallagher, along with staff from Northampton County’s Department of Parks and Recreation, on Friday held a free program for residents about the world’s only flying mammal at Louise Moore Park, 146 Country Club Road.
In addition to identifying local bat species, officials spoke about the hazards they face.
“I used to have a real bat skeleton. My dog ate it — honest, true story — crunch, crunch. It's gone,” Gallagher said, showing a photo of a bat skeleton in a book and pointing to its bones.
“If you notice, he's got really, really long finger bones.
“If I were a bat and I were standing up here with my wings folded, my fingers would reach down to the ground. That's how long their finger bones are.”Sue Gallagher, chief naturalist for the Carbon County Environmental Education Center
“If I were a bat and I were standing up here with my wings folded, my fingers would reach down to the ground. That's how long their finger bones are.”
White-nose syndrome
Of the nine species of bats native to Pennsylvania, two are included on the Federal Endangered Species List, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. They are the northern long-eared and the Indiana bats.
“Bats like the little brown bat and northern long-eared bat were very prevalent across Pennsylvania at one time,” according to the USDA’s website.
“Over 90% of the little brown bats and northern long-eared bats have succumbed to white-nose syndrome across Pennsylvania.”
White-nose syndrome is a fungal disease that has been found to kill bats across North America, likely introduced from Europe, according to the National Park Service. It causes visible white fungal growth on infected bats’ muzzles and wings.
“This cold-loving fungus infects bats during hibernation when the bats reduce their metabolic rate and lower their body temperature to save energy over winter,” according to the service.
“Hibernating bats affected by WNS wake up to warm temperatures more frequently, which results in using up fat reserves and then starvation before spring arrives.”
Bats also have a low “reproductive potential,” according to the state Game Commission, meaning that the disease can be particularly devastating to populations as they are slow to reproduce.
“Most bats, including the smaller species, usually bear a single young per year; the larger species may have up to four,” according to the commissions’ website. “There is only one litter per year.”
‘Unlike anything else in the animal world’
During her presentation, Gallagher covered several myths about bats through true-or-false questions with the crowd of dozens of adults and children.
“True or false, bats are just flying mice — they’re just mice with wings?” she asked. “Remember, bats are unlike anything else in the animal world. They are unique.”
After asking if bats were blind, the group resoundingly answered false, and Gallagher explained how bats use echolocation to find their way, hunt and navigate obstacles.
She also shared that vampire bats — those that feed on blood, native to South America — are altruistic, meaning that they’ll care for other vampire bats even if they aren’t related.
Gallagher brought two live bats — a big brown bat, Ruth “Batter” Ginsburg, and Fruity-Patootie, an Egyptian fruit bat. The former was injured after being hit by a car, while the latter came from a zoo.
She also explained white-nose syndrome, detailing the disease’s devastating impacts.
“Some estimates say more than 7 million bats in the eastern United States, along the east coast, have died due to white-nose syndrome,” she said.
“So the lesson — if you have bats in your house, you see bats in a pavilion, you have bats in a bat box, we have to cherish what's left because it's really not much.”
