Nationally, bats are in trouble. Can South Mississippi help save the mosquito-eaters?

As the Coast’s warm, subtropical environment is a draw for snowbirds and tourists, it’s also a draw for bats — an environmentally essential, but often overlooked, part of the region’s ecosystem.

Across the continent, bat populations are facing strain and risk of major population decline . Mandy Rigsby, a Biloxi-based environmental specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the Coast subverts the national trends and acts as something of an unexpected refuge for them. The Coast as a refuge shouldn’t be taken for granted, she said.

Bats play a huge role in maintaining ecological balance, she said. But most Gulf Coasters don’t even know they live here. A bat’s diet significantly consists of pests to humans, Rigsby said, bugs that carry disease and tamper with crops. They’re the primary predator of night-flying insects.

“If we didn’t have bats, we’d have a lot more mosquitoes and probably diseases,” Rigsby said. “We honestly don’t even really think of them.”

Some species can eat their weight in bugs in a single night.

The Coast provides a home where they aren’t as vulnerable to the things that threaten their population growth. The biggest threat to them across the continent is a fungal disease called White Nose Syndrome. It kills bats by causing them to expel excess energy during hibernation, burning their fat reserves which makes them starve to death.

The disease spreads in caves. A white-ish fungal growth appears on the bat’s nose near the end-stage of infection. Other factors affecting bats, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, include climate change, habitat loss and wind energy. The latter two are also concerns on the Coast, Rigsby said.

On paper, Rigsby said, the Coast has a sizable and stable population of bats, hosting more than what one would expect. There’s hopes that the Gulf Coast region can serve as a safe zone for bats, especially those in transit between regions. It could be a place where they can stop and safely raise their young, especially while there are so many things threatening them in other parts of the continent.

But concrete numbers of bats are hard to come by on the Coast, Rigsby said. Bats make for hard animals to monitor in general, but that’s especially true on the Coast, where their roosts aren’t concentrated in caves. Here, they are usually spread out dangling upside down from trees and in attics. Some are migratory, but not all — especially on the Coast.

Rigsby believes if proper funds and efforts aren’t set aside for monitoring the Coast’s bat population, there could be problems researchers like her aren’t even aware of. Because bats are such a keystone to the environment, consequences could be reaching to other parts of the ecosystem. Especially an increase in mosquitoes, she said.

“It’s really vital to prioritize monitoring these habitats the bats are using because if we don’t do it before it’s too late, we can’t properly help the bats,” Rigsby said.

What to know about bats

Jeremy Everett, owner and operator of Frontier Wildlife Solutions in Bay St. Louis, makes his living removing animals, mainly bats, from homes along the Coast.

“Most people around here know me as the bat man,” he said. “I love my job and providing solutions.”

Many clients didn’t know bats lived on the Coast prior to needing them removed. But if you ask around, he said, it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t know of a friend who’s had a bat problem before.

Bats are pretty harmless, but you shouldn’t mess with them, Everett said.

Many have sharp teeth and claws. They’re capable of carrying diseases that can transmit to humans, like rabies, but bats are less likely to be carriers than most other mammals

Bat guano can contain fungal spores that can cause respiratory issues. Buildup of guano and urine, which contains high concentrations of ammonia, can cause structural issues in the places where they roost. Bats often chew insulation if they settle in attics.

Everett said bats have preference for living in high places and others that are hard to reach by humans, like the attics of stilted homes. On the Coast, they have a preference for living in warm places, usually those that are 90 degrees to 105 degrees.

There are at least 14 different species of bat that frequent the Coast, Rigsby said. Here are the most common Everett said he encounters in removals:

• Evening bat

• Big brown bat

• Hoary bat

• Mexican free tailed bat

Rigsby is a member of the Mississippi Bat Working Group, an organization dedicated to the education, research and conservation of bats. She said those interested in being a part of the conservation of bats in Mississippi should visit msbats.org.

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