Yes, there are little brown bats on Turnagain Arm
But more questions than answers surround this secretive creature of the sky

Little brown bats can be seen on Turnagain Arm. Photos courtesy of John Chenger A colony of little brown bats. The bats can be found throughout Southcentral Alaska including Turnagain Arm; however, little is known about this tiny creature of the sky. If you see a bat make a note of where and when you saw it and report it to the Bat Club.

By Jim Magowan
Turnagain Times Correspondent

“Twinkle, twinkle little bat, how I wonder where you’re at!” The words of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” pretty well describe the current status of knowledge about little brown bats in Alaska.

People are often surprised to learn there are bats in Alaska. A common reaction when someone recognizes a little critter flying by at night is, “That looks like a bat but, I didn’t think there were bats in Alaska.”

Several species of bat have been found in Alaska but only one species occurs in Southcentral Alaska—the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus).

Turnagain Arm is home to little brown bats with sightings in Girdwood and Hope. While scientists know little brown bats are found in Alaska, including Turnagain Arm, they don’t know much more than that.

The big little brown bat mystery is, “Where do they go in winter?” According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game non-game biologist Dave Tessler that’s one of the questions currently being researched.

Tessler says, “The plan this year is to establish a few data points that will straddle Turnagain Arm to get an idea of how they migrate. The idea is to try to follow bats from maternity colonies and at least get an indication of which way they go.”

Bats migrate to hibernating grounds in winter. They have been documented to travel 200 miles or more. Particularly puzzling in Alaska, little brown bats have been observed near Fairbanks where there is virtually no place within 200 miles that provides hibernating conditions—the bats need temperatures close to 40 degrees for hibernation.

The Alaskan who discovers a bat hibernaculun (where bats hibernate) in Southcentral Alaska will have a true science ‘first’ and a major discovery.

Check out the Alaska Citizen Science Program and the Alaska Bat Club (all you need to do is search Alaska Brown Bats to get links to these and other sites) for information about bats and bat research by participating in the Citizens Scientist Project and the Bat Club. There are no dues, no meetings and no hassles in the Bat Club. All you do is report if you make a bat sighting.

An area that is considered a prime prospect for hibernating bats is in the Copper River Delta karst caves. According to Tessler, “A large number of little brown bats has been seen in the Cordova area in winter,” he says. “Research planned in the future includes checking old mine sites in Chugach National Forest for hibernacula. Mines and caves are common hibernating areas.”

Why do bats eat more moths in summer than at other times? Bats hunt insects at night. In summer they don’t have much night to hunt in so they go after “big game” such as moths because they don’t have time to catch enough mosquitos to live on. This is why we can’t count on bats to keep the mosquitos down.

Bat sightings have increased in recent years. Scientist are not yet certain why.

“They may be following us,” Tessler says.

It’s not as spooky as it sounds. It is possible that buildings provide winter hibernating places for bats so they can move north as we create better habitat for them.

“It is possible,” says Tessler, “that little brown bats came to Alaska with the Europeans.”

Build a better attic and the bats will come.

More bats or bat sightings in Alaska may also be the result of an expanded range due to climate change. There is also the possibility that increased human population and interest in bats is simply resulting in more sightings being reported.

There is no reference to bats in Alaska in native culture. Is this because they were not considered important or because they were not well known because of their nocturnal habits and low numbers? Or is it because they were not here before the arrival of Europeans? Researchers are examining native artifacts for references to bats. If found, evidence of bat references in early native culture would be an exciting find.

If you should find a maternity or hibernating area try not to disturb the bats. Disturbing them could, in many cases, result in bats dying. As a non-game species they may not be legally taken or captured. In some parts of the country bats can be dangerous because they may carry rabies without being killed by the disease. Bats posses small needle like teeth, designed to catch insects, and a bat bite could be fatal if it caries rabies. Fortunately the incidence of rabies in Southcentral Alaska bats is extremely low, but it is not zero, and even without rabies you don’t want to be bitten by a bat’s mouthful of sharp teeth.

If you see a bat make a note of where and when you saw it and report it to the Bat Club. If you find bats hibernating it is very important to report the location. As you can see there are a lot more questions about little brown bats in Alaska than answers, and biologists are counting on you to help come up with more answers.