Are Bats in Milwaukee Vulnerable in the Fall Season?

Bats are integral to the maintenance of the ecosystem in places like Milwaukee. But they face a number of challenges, mainly caused by the conflict between their nature and human activities.  It is a good idea for Milwaukee residents to learn more about bat behavior, especially the behavior of the most popular bat in the region, the hoary bat. This knowledge will help to ensure that bats and human beings live harmoniously. This harmonious existence will, of course, mean that residents will look for a humane, efficient bat removal company to handle intrusion issues in Milwaukee.

What Does Fall mean for Bats?

In the bat world, fall means a number of things. Perhaps the most dominant of them is mating. What’s so unique about this? Well they turn their volume buttons on mute. Even though bat sounds are beyond the scope of human ears, their world goes almost dead quiet during their fall mating season. Unfortunately, this also means their echolocation abilities are reduced causing bats to fly around with limited navigating abilities. The researchers also discovered that the bats failed to create their usual echolocation sound even when they were within 10 feet of their equipment. When the bats did use their sonar abilities, they reduced it significantly, creating what experts call ‘micro calls’. This explains why each fall, so many bats die after becoming entangled with obstacles or coming in contact with wind turbines. Fall also means it is time for bats to get ready to hibernate. They increase their intake of food in order to build fat reserves to last them throughout the winter. This means they will be hunting more during this time.

Struggles that Bats are Facing

Bats are struggling to survive in the face of an ever-changing and adjusting world, thanks to human activity. And this is not simply a Milwaukee issue. It is a global one. On the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, for instance, the fruit bat is fast losing a battle for its existence as it is constantly hunted to be sold as bushmeat. Like many other wildlife species, bats around the world are endangered by habitat loss due to human actions. Many of these actions disrupt bats especially during the critical mating season, putting them at further risk.  Agricultural practices such as clearing land for cultivation, mining and the building of cities are reducing the space available for bats to call home. Guano mining and inappropriate tourism activities are also driving bats away from their habitats and into life-threatening situations. The stigma attached to bats is also costing the winged mammals dearly as thousands of them are victims of inhumane treatment triggered by misplaced fear. Many people mistakenly believe bats are evil or dangerous (especially those who consider them vampires) and as a result, they treat them cruelly whenever there is a bat-human encounter. As if that weren’t bad enough, bats around the world are struggling against the deadly disease called the white-nose syndrome which attacks when they are in hibernation. To make matters worse, bats reproduce relatively slowly with each female typically birthing one pup each year. At this pace, the species won’t be able to keep pace with the rate at which they are dying. In fact, currently, 24 of the world’s bat species are classified as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and many other species are expected to join the list soon if the trend continues.

Humane Bat Control

Since bats face so many obstacles as they try to survive, we must help them by ensuring that our removal and control strategies are humane. When you use a humane, professional bat removal company to handle issues that affect your Milwaukee property, you are playing your part in ensuring that this very important wildlife species survives and continues to help maintain the ecosystem on which we all rely.