LAC LA BICHE - Bats are often synonymous with Halloween and on Oct. 30, people learned about these spooky creatures during a workshop that was held at the Portage College Lac La Biche campus.
The presentation was put on by Darcy Shyry, a biologist and instructor in the college’s Environmental Technician Diploma program.
Shyry, who also serves as the regional coordinator for the Alberta Community Bat Program, said bats can be found in many areas across Alberta and Canada, including the Lakeland.
“We’ve been doing scat collections across Alberta to look at the DNA for species, just to find out what bats are in which parts of Alberta, and we’ve got quite a few records from up in this area here,” he explained.
Out of the six species of bats who call the Lakeland and Lac La Biche areas home, three are migratory, which means they fly south for the winter. These are the Eastern Red Bat, Silver-Haired Bat, and the Hoary Bat. There are also three resident bats - the Little Brown Myotis Bat, the Big Brown Bat, and the Northern Myotis.
Shyry said that three other species of bat can be found in Alberta, though those are confined to the southern portion of the province.
Bats can sometimes become a nuisance by getting into homes and buildings through crevices and small spaces.
The Little Brown Myotis, Shyry continued, is the most common bat species found in buildings. He explained that this bat can get up into roofs, and enter through wall spaces, soffits, and other areas.
“It’s the one most people would see around their houses,” he said of the Little Brown Myotis.
Once bats get inside of a building, Shyry said, they can become a problem, particularly if a sizable colony has amassed. Due to declining populations, the Little Brown Myotis is listed as an endangered species and protected by law, which means it cannot be harmed it any way.
If people find themselves dealing with these unwanted visitors, Shyry said the best thing they can do is to leave them be and wait until the fall when the bats will leave, as they like to spend the cold winters elsewhere.
Once they’re gone, it is wise to plug any holes up in homes and buildings.
“Ideally, you’re going to give them somewhere else to roost, because these bats that get into our buildings are actually mother bats with their pups,” he said. “That’s why they’re there . . . the pups can’t fly, and they need a safe place.”
In folklore and popular horror films, bats are frequently depicted as dark, bloodsucking creatures of the night who set out in search of victims. However, as Shyry explains, these often-misunderstood flying mammals are non-aggressive and rarely pose a threat to humans.
People who tend to get bitten are usually doing something they should not do, such as grabbing a bat. While there is a minor risk of contracting rabies from bats, he said, if a bat is flying around, chances are that it isn’t rabid.
Rabies, as with any other mammal, is hard on bats, and the disease eventually kills them.
The biologist recommends that encounters with bats be reported to the proper authorities.
“If you see a bat, report it to your local Fish and Wildlife instead of dealing with it yourself,” he recommended.
Bats play a vital role both from an environmental and economic standpoint. According to Shyry, bats are major predators of insects and help to regulate insect populations. This not only means less flies and other annoying insects buzzing around but it is also important for the agricultural sector.
“Most of us don’t like mosquitoes . . . bats eat mosquitoes,” he said, adding, they also like to eat the moths of crop pests.
“They have an economic value, and they have an ecological value,” he said.