Big brown bats and little brown bats are year-round residents of Maine and New Hampshire. The other six species that call our region home actually migrate to warmer climes or hibernacula during the winter. Of the eight species that call our region home, six species are now listed as Special Concern status: eastern small-footed myotis (Myotis leibii), little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), Northern long-eared myotis (Myotis septentrionalis), red bat (Lasiurus borealis), hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus), silver-haired bat (Lasionycterus noctivigans), Eastern pipistrelle (Pipistrellus subflavus). Maine is considering listing the little brown bat and the Northern long eared for endangered listing. The crash in populations can be attributed to White Nose Syndrome, and there is much to be learned about the habitats and behaviors of these special species. The Center for Wildlife is proud of our work with bats (and all of our species!) because treating each individual can make a big difference to local ecology. Bats can consume their body weight in insects each night, which means a great deal to human health (think mosquitoes and EEE or West Nile), agriculture (USDA estimates bats provide 3 billion dollars worth of agricultural pest control each year in our country), and forestry (picture over-population of gypsy moths).
It’s not every day the birth of a wild animal changes the course of a person’s life, but that’s what happened to Karla Bloem. In the spring of 1997, Bloem was working for the small community of Houston, Minn., in the state’s southeastern corner, creating a nature center as a way to serve the town’s trailhead for the Root River Trail. At the same time, some 200 miles to the east in Antigo, Wis., a 3-week-old great-horned owlet fell out of her nest in a pine tree, permanently injuring her left elbow and leaving her unable to fly. The owlet, which would eventually be named “Alice,” remained in the care of the Raptor Education Group, Inc., in Antigo for several months.
Rentokil Initial shares rose to a four-and-a-half-year high on Friday as strong demand for its pest control services combined with cost measures to drive pre-tax profit up 58.4 per cent. The company unveiled a series of innovative products, including a trap for small vertebrates that sends a text when it catches a creature and an infrared-activated poison dispenser as it seeks to stimulate further growth in its mature markets, where competition is intense.
New York City’s notoriously massive rat population appears to present a bigger health risk than was thought before. According to a new study, the rodents’ fleas could transmit Bubonic plague. Scientists from Columbia and Cornell Universities collected 133 Manhattan rats for their research. The animals were euthanized while the insects living on them were killed with a vapor.
Poultry farmers will have to prove their competency in handling rat poison, following the introduction of a new generation of products coming to market later this year. It is already acknowledged that resistance in rat populations is growing, and in some areas none of the existing poisons authorised for outdoor use are working
Barn owls have made an incredible comeback after fears that the birds may die out in Britain. The species had its best ever breeding season last year when the mild winter helped the number of nests and chicks reach a record high. Experts feared for the future of the species in 2013 when already-fragile populations were decimated by the bitter cold – which hit food supplies of mice and voles, the British Trust for Ornithology said yesterday.
Bats In Your Attic?
