Along with summer weather comes mosquito season. Luckily, nature’s only flying mammal is on the case.
Bats are vital to North Carolina’s ecosystem, eating nearly their entire body weight in insects each night. But a fast-spreading disease called white nose syndrome has been decimating their numbers for nearly two decades. The disease affects bats by causing a fuzzy white growth on their faces, disrupting their hibernation cycle, and burning energy and fat reserves critical to their winter survival.
Species such as the tricolored bat, once common in the Piedmont region, edge closer to extinction with fewer than 500 in the state, down from 5,000 in 2011. Local and affordable efforts to aid bat survival include bat boxes, which are wooden or concrete roosting locations often hung in tall trees.
This hour, we swoop in on topics such as how to build a bat house, stereotypes surrounding the species, and a favorite habitat right here in the Piedmont region. Join us as we get batty, on Charlotte Talks.
GUESTS:
Katherine Etchison, wildlife diversity biologist at N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission
Jacob Schmidt, Eagle Scout, Troop 38 in Concord
Chris Shomo, wildlife specialist and wildlife damage control agent for A1 Wildlife Control
