The bats of James Madison University's arboretum are the main attraction at a bimonthly event where visitors watch the winged mammals emerge for their evening hunt. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
[bird and bugsong]
The Edith J. Carrier Arboretum is a home and hunting ground for several bat species – Eastern reds, tricoloreds, silvers, and big browns. Bat enthusiasts gathered by the pond at dusk last Friday to watch them. Peggy Plass, a JMU professor and Virginia Master Naturalist, held an acoustic monitoring device hooked up to her phone.
PEGGY PLASS: It's better to have it higher, but it's lightning. … It picks up the echolocation that the bats are doing, and different bat species echolocate at different frequencies.
[thunder]
Incoming thunderstorms, and maybe the haze from wildfire smoke, subdued their activity this night – but we saw a few.
PLASS Oh, there it is, right there!
LITTLE BOY: Bat! Bat! Bat! Bat! Bat! Bat! [mother shushes]
ATTENDEE: Oh, here comes another!
PLASS: Yay! … Okay, yeah, that's a red bat!
Lindsay Caesar, an assistant professor of chemistry at JMU, researches the microbiome of bats' skin. A fungal disease called white-nose syndrome has decimated bat populations in some caves, but certain species are more resilient than others.
LINDSAY CAESAR: We've been delving deeper into individual bacteria that live on the skin of bats, and trying to understand how they're actually killing the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, so, at least one of the strains makes very potent antifungal molecules.
She noted that cavers should be careful to decontaminate their gear between trips to protect delicate subterranean ecosystems. The "Evening with Bats" events, hosted by the Virginia Master Naturalists and the Bat Conservation and Rescue of Virginia, take place on the first and third Friday of every month through September. Find more information on the arboretum's website.
