Chiroptera Monthly
a newsletter for citizen scientists
december bat news!
Porter County Chapter WISHES YOU and BATS
a safe and cozy holiday season!
Indiana bats hibernate during winter in caves or, occasionally, in abandoned mines. For hibernation, they require cool, humid caves with stable temperatures, under 50° F but above freezing. Very few caves within the range of the species have these conditions.
Hibernation is an adaptation for survival during the cold winter months when no insects are available for bats to eat. Bats must store energy in the form of fat before hibernating. During the six months of hibernation the stored fat is their only source of energy. If bats are disturbed or cave temperatures increase, more energy is needed and hibernating bats may starve. After hibernation, Indiana bats migrate to their summer habitat in wooded areas where they usually roost under loose tree bark on dead or dying trees.
The bats were nestled all snug in their beds; While visions of mosquito danced in their heads;
Solitary vs colony bats in NW Indiana
1.Solitary bats (do not gather or roost in groups) are Red bat, Silver-haired bat, and Hoary bat
2.Social bats (gather in colonies to raise young and roost in groups) in the genus Myotis; Little brown bat, Indiana bat, Northern bat, Gray bat, and Southeastern bat
3.Social bats in other genera; Big brown bat, Pipistrelle Evening bat, and Big-eared bat
The solitary bats are solitary and migratory. Red and hoary bats live among the foliage in tree tops and migrate south for the winter, although the northern edge of their winter range is apparently in southern Indiana where they find caves. The silver-haired bat migrates through Indiana in spring and fall. It has its young to the north, but in winter a few hibernate here in caves and mines.
The social bats are colonial, at least in summer, and include five species of Myotis (little brown or mouse-eared bats) plus four additional species, each in different genera.
and chart by IN DNR
social bat species benefit from man-made habitat in NW Indiana
what's brandenbark?
Building PCC's Bat Habitat Program
PCC's Bat Duo are volunteers Tammy and Don. With a mobile device, they recorded some bat calls in fall of 2018 and could identify these; southeastern myotis, little brown bat, northern long-eared bat, Indiana bat, evening bat and tri-colored bat.
When they realized how many different types of bats were visiting the conservation property, they felt compelled to provide more habitat and try stationary point monitoring. This is the type of device that stays fixed in the field and records bat calls nightly over a monthly period. Their mobile recording device only records while the user has it out in the field on non-windy nights during the summer bat season. The system is then downloaded from the stationary point, the calls are identified and the data is shared with NABat of the USGS. A data collection program for all recorded bat calls of North American.
Volunteers installed 6 BrandenBark(tm) habitats at a PCC conservation property. Sheets of the "bark" are wrapped and tied to the tops of wooden poles. The bats seemed to move in right away to the man-made habitat. PCC was able to get some stationary point recordings in the Fall of 2019. More were recorded than the previous year. The Izaak Walton chapter hopes that the habitat helped show the increase in bat populations and they hope to install more habitat in the future.
BrandenBark™ is an artificial bark used as a mitigation/habitat enhancement tool specifically designed for long term habitat improvement for bark roosting bats, including the federally endangered Indiana bat. Two additional bat species, the northern long-eared bat and the little brown bat, are currently under review for listing by USFWS and have also been found to utilize BrandenBark™.
The development of BrandenBark™ is a result of several years of intense research and monitoring by Copperhead Consulting working with an Indiana bat maternity colony. During the study, BrandenBark™ roosts were used by the colony within months of construction. BrandenBark™ requires little to no maintenance, is easy to monitor, cost effective, and has been accepted by the USFWS as a mitigation tool. It can be used in virtually any scenario and on any project including, but not limited to, transportation projects, transmission lines, coal permits, wetland and stream restoration projects, and can be used by land managers to improve/restore habitat for existing Indiana bat colonies.
In addition, this mitigation tool can be easily implemented within most project footprints, eliminating the need for the purchase of additional property.