Back to Basics

I remember a story a few years ago about a man who was hired to paint a water tower. Anxious to get back home, he ignored the forecast and sprayed the tower even though it was a windy day. Everything downwind got coated with tiny blue dots including all the cars that were parked in a nearby lot.

Others had to suffer because the man was inflexible to environmental conditions.

This is the kind of story that plays out everyday ... but with much less notice. One example involves energy production, an outdoor sport, and bats. Yes bats, those creepy flying mammals in the night sky. Brace yourself because this post isn't pleasant.

It seems that North America has at least five billion fewer bats than just a few years ago. These creatures are struggling now, and they need us humans to be a little flexible in order to help them. The consequences otherwise are not just sad, they could be downright painful.

Like vampires, bats are mysterious. Scientists simply don't know a whole lot about them because they aren't easy to study. Here in Pennsylvania, we know that there are two kinds of bats: ones that migrate and ones that hibernate. Windmills are killing ones that migrate and a pathogen is killing hibernators.

Because we don't know for sure how many exist, we can't determine the percentage lost, but the studies have suggested a 98% decline in some hibernating species. Unlike the paint story, the situation is not just a matter of inconvenience, it's tragic. However, like the paint story, a little flexibility on our part could go a long way in preventing more hardship. Here's why:

A Windmill's Impact on Migrating Bats

I've been told that the blades on today's high-tech, industrial strength windmills turn at about 160 miles per hour. We've long wondered how many birds would get hit since these colossal towers are positioned in the same windy pathways used for travel; however, when scientists began to look for bodies at the base of the towers, they found a lot of bats among the birds.

They also found...

•...more dead bats in late summer and early fall – migration seasons.

•...bats that seemed to be in perfect condition among the beheaded and cut up ones. Dissection revealed evidence of barotrauma – they exploded internally due to the sudden drop in air pressure within the turbine zone.

Desperate to find a solution, researches determined that, since bats don't typically fly on windy nights, mortality rates could be reduced if the blades didn't start spinning (a.k.a. cut in) until the winds really kicked up. A slight change in the angle of the blades would change this cut in threshold, and since windmills only work when it's windy, it is estimated the change would cost only a .3% loss in power generation. Meanwhile, it is believed the action could prevent about three quarters of the bat fatalities.

The industry in PA remains inflexible to the idea.

A Disease's Impact on Hibernating Bats

A cottony white growth was found on the faces of cave bats near Albany New York in the winter of 2006. The cause: a cold-loving fungus (Geomyces destructans) that spread rapidly, both among the colony, and now among caves in North America. Once exposed, each cave population is nearly decimated.

European bats have been dealing with this White Nose Syndrome for years, but they can survive it for reasons scientists are still trying to figure out. Meanwhile, no one knows for sure how it came to America, but the general consensus is that human cave explorers accidentally and unknowingly carried it here on their clothing or equipment. Cave visitors have since been warned extensively that they could spread the disease. The community refused to stop exploring and instead decided to instruct visitors how to disinfect equipment and clothes to prevent the spread.

One inflexible person could spoil the whole cave.

What Bats do for us.

People may feel these creatures are just one letter away from rats, but the reality is they play a big, quiet role in our quality of life.

Ask yourself which would you prefer to have more of: bats or mosquitoes? Bats or pesticides? One bat can eat up to 6,000 insects each night or 25 percent of their body weight. They also pollinate plants and contribute to medical research. You don't have to like them to appreciate their existence.

To make matters worse, a bat can live for 30 years, so their reproductive rate is low. The losses we are witnessing right now will be felt for decades to come.

And windmills and White Nose aren't the only threats. Bats have long been suffering with habitat loss from chopped down roosting trees and boarded up caves, etc. as well as health problems from interrupted hibernation.

Alter a few blades? Disinfect when visiting a cave? Allow visitors to live in your belfry? These actions wouldn't seem absurd if your life depended on them, which I think it does when you consider pollination and prevention of insect-related disease. There are many creatures in life that make the average person squeamish, but we owe them -- and ourselves -- the flexibility needed so that they can continue to live. Doing otherwise is as foolish as spray painting in the wind.

Visit the Organization for Bat Conservation.org for more information on how you can help the bats in your neighborhood.