Bat Week Is Here: Why NYC’s Zig-Zag Flyers Matter

Halloween is days away, but state wildlife officials say New Yorkers should think about bats well beyond the costume aisle. Bat Week has begun, and the state Department of Environmental Conservation is using it to press the case for protecting the animals, which it says do far more good than harm.

The pitch starts with appetite. Bats eat enormous numbers of bugs, and according to the department, that means fewer mosquitoes, less need for pesticides on crops and in gardens, and possibly a check on invasive insects. Nic Comparato, a bat biologist and Rutgers University Ph.D. candidate, said that where bat populations are healthier, farmers can use a lot less pesticide, which translates into better health outcomes for people. Even for a city this far from a farm field, Comparato said, any upstate place with a healthy bat population is using less pesticide, and that benefits the food system New York City sits in.

Bats aren’t only a rural story. Comparato, whose research focuses on urban bats in New York City, said several species can regularly be spotted here. Anyone who has walked past a park at night has probably seen one, they said, but most people assume it’s a bird. Spotting them gets harder as the weather cools, which is a funny twist given the timing of Bat Week. Comparato leads bat walks through city parks in the warmer months.

The tell is the flight. Comparato said bats look profoundly bad at flying, but they’re actually very good at it; their style is just different from birds’. They have to flap constantly to stay airborne, so their path looks zig-zaggy or bouncy. Most bats seen in the city today roost in trees or in structures such as old buildings and cemetery mausoleums, Comparato said.

The animals have also taken a hit. The DEC says white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease, has been a major threat to New York bats since 2006 and has killed more than 90% of bats at some hibernation sites in the state. Comparato said the disease decimated the city’s population of tricolored bats, a cave-hibernating species.

That’s why officials are asking outdoor adventurers to stay out of caves and mines during the colder months. Wildlife biologist Ashley Meyer said in a video on the department’s website that leaving hibernating bats alone keeps them from burning extra energy stores when woken, so they can make it to spring.

The DEC’s other asks are simple: limit tree removal during the winter months, plant pollinator gardens to attract the insects bats feed on, and keep cats indoors so they don’t hunt bats.

Meyer also took on the fright factor. She said it’s a misconception that bats are all rabid; maybe less than a percent of bats out on the landscape carry rabies. They don’t want to fly into your hair or attack you either, she said, because they want to avoid people as much as people want to avoid them. Health officials still advise against handling bats and say anyone who may have had contact with one should seek medical guidance.

Comparato sees something familiar in the city’s bats. Each species has its own approach to living here, they said, and in that way they’re a lot like New Yorkers, sharing a resilience and a commitment to making this weird place work as a home.