Bats

[Brianf.]

Hearing reports of bats being seen around Lake V.  Haven't seen any since the White Nose Syndrome outbreak a few years back.  Are they making a comeback? Is anyone seeing them around the lake?  If so, that would be welcome sign IMO due to the number of mosquitoes they consume.

[redlabguy]

I agree. It would be great to see bats again. We used to watch them wipe out the mosquitoes around our deck.
We have neighbors on Black Duck Island (Frazer Bay) who have an occupied bat house. No one has seen one, but the guano below the house is evidence. I’m hoping they are prolific breeders!

RLG

[leech~~]

Dragonflies do some damage on squitors as well. Are you seeing many of them? 

[Mike89]

48 minutes ago, leech~~ said:

Dragonflies do some damage on squitors as well. Are you seeing many of them? 

they are here and in huge numbers!!!!   

[Brianf.]

We have dragonflies for sure. Mostly daylight feeders though.  Back in the olden days - pre-White Nose Syndrome - it sure was nice to have bats cleaning up the mosquitos around the boat at dusk and into the night.  

[chucker1101]

We had extensive bats on our property on Pine Island, up to 2014 or so when they disappeared. Have not seen any return of bats yet. I'll keep my eyes open and report back if i see any.

 

Agree, it would be welcome to see a comeback.

[leech~~]

This year so far is horrible for sqeeters! Last week I visited a buddy on Birch lake up in Babbit, MN. We ebiked then hiked back into a small trout lake just to check it out, didn't fish. It was just a cloud all the way in and back out and my thought was on the poor suckers going into the BWCA this summer! Not sure the bats and dragonflies are going to make a dent! ‍

Edited June 11 by leech~~

[Brianf.]

Read somewhere about a study done on the bat/mosquito relationship.  If I recall correctly, the study concluded that the presence of bats reduced the mosquito population in the study control area by around 1/3.   Apparently, mosquitos can also sense/hear the echolocation of bats which causes them to suppress their activity levels as a survival adaptation.  Definitely rooting for a bat population rebound! 

[leech~~]

Over the years the only sure time I have been able to see bats or know their around.  Is sitting by a fire or down by a dock at sun down when there's just a bit of light left when looking up, and seeing them diving in and out.  

Edited June 11 by leech~~

[SkunkedAgain]

Don't forget about the times that they unwittingly fly into your fishing line.

 

Normally I would say that ebbs and flows in food source would be a good sign. However, even with this bountiful mosquito population available there just really aren't enough bats around for the natural cycle to capitalize on it to any noticeable degree. The DNR says that roughly 90% of the bat population in the Soudan mine has died off. If that 90% is representative of the entire area, even a mosquito all-you-can-eat-buffet will not bring the bats back for many years.

 

Hopefully the little guys can make a comeback.

[Brianf.]

Found this today on the DNR website.  Promising! 
 

"In February 2024, Minnesota Biological Survey staff counted the number of bats at a hibernaculum (a winter shelter for bats) in southeast Minnesota. This location has been monitored since 1984 and more recent efforts have focused on documenting the impact of White-nose Syndrome (or WNS) on the overwintering population. This WNS disease, typified by a fungus that grows on hibernating bats, has decimated the four bat species that hibernate in Minnesota. All these species have been found at this site. The fungus that causes this disease was first observed at the site in 2017. At that time, the fungus was obvious on the bodies of stricken bats; a feature of many bat overwintering spots since WNS was first documented in North America in 2006. During the 2024 visit, the fungus was not observed on the bats. This is worth special note. Although the fungus is still present in the hibernaculum, the bats appear to be coping with it.

Total count numbers offer another hopeful sign. From a recorded high number of approximately 1,150 bats pre-WNS, numbers dropped to a low of 98 bats after WNS was detected here. During this year’s count 291 individuals were observed. This included a possible Northern Long-eared Bat (federally endangered and absent from the counts since 2017), as well as encouraging numbers of Tricolored Bats (proposed for federal listing as endangered)."

Edited Thursday at 03:42 PM by Brianf.

[SkunkedAgain]

That's great news