A Search for Threatened Bat

In an effort to detect whether northern long-eared bats, a threatened species, live in East Hampton, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has asked town officials for permission to set up a dozen monitoring stations on vacant town-owned land in Montauk and East Hampton for three nights in upcoming weeks.

The population of long-eared bats has experienced a dramatic decline throughout most of its range as a result of white-nose syndrome, a disease caused by an invasive fungus. It affects hibernating bats, causing them to starve to death over the winter. Since white-nose syndrome was first discovered in New York in 2006, the number of northern long-eared bats throughout the state dropped by 98 percent.

The bats were frequently detected in all of New York State, outside of New York City, prior to 2006, according to the D.E.C., with an estimated 500,000 in 2005. According to a map published online by the D.E.C., there had been no confirmed occurrences of long-eared bats in East Hampton Town as of May 2016, though they had been observed in the Town of Brookhaven. However, several were found in East Hampton during a netting procedure by the D.E.C. earlier this summer, Kevin Jennings, a biologist with the agency, said this week. They showed signs of being infected.

Northern long-eared bats roost, forage, and raise their young in forest habitats, feeding primarily on flying insects. They hibernate through late fall and early spring.

Successful recovery from white-nose syndrome, according to wildlife biologists, would require treating bats for the disease, and the D.E.C. is working with researchers  to develop treatment. In the meantime, the focus is on protecting those that remain. 

Guidelines call for leaving dead trees or those with cavities where bats may live in place, if possible, and limiting tree clearing to November through April, when bats are hibernating and not expected to be in trees. Tree cutting is restricted within five miles of a known hibernation site or within 1.5 miles of a documented summer occurrence.

Acoustic bat detectors pick up the nocturnal sounds of bats, which use echolocation to navigate their surroundings and to find prey insects. They emit pulses of sound, almost all above human hearing range. Information from the monitoring systems can be used to identify particular species of bats based on the various sound frequencies used.