Florida Keys Audubon's first meeting of the season packed the Garden Club's viewing room. The star of the presentation? Four live Florida bats, and two people who love them.

Cyndi and George Marks of the Florida Bat Conservancy (www.floridabats.org) of Bay Pines, Florida have dedicated their lives to educating the public about these important, imperiled, and misunderstood animals. "Bats got mixed up in the Dracula story," explains Cyndi, "but they are truly gentle, shy creatures."

Over 1000 different species of bats exist, inhabiting every continent except Anarctica. The largest, known as "flying foxes," can have wings spans of up to 6 feet, while the smallest weigh less than a penny. Diets vary greatly from species to species. Some bats eat insects, while others consume fruit or nectar. There is a fish-eating bat and a frog-eating bat. The 3 species of "vampire bats" require 1 to 2 tablespoons of blood a night. 

Bats play important roles in their various ecosystems. The bug-eaters keep insect populations in check, while the fruit-eaters serve as seed dispersers. The nectar-eaters are pollinators, as the pollin gets on their fur while they eat. Bats are also the only mammal which can fly (others can glide.) Contrary to popular misconception, bats are not rodents. They belong in the unique order "Chiroptera." 

In the Florida Keys, our native bat species are bug-eaters, though we occassionally host fruit-eating species blown in from elsewhere. Each bat consumes up to 3,000 insects a night! Bats find prey using echolocation. Their voices are too high for human ears to register. "This is a good thing," says George Marks, "because bat calls are about as loud as a household fire detector going off."

Just how refined is a bat's sense of echolocation? According to George, they can tell how hard or soft an object is, its shape, and its size, even if the object is as thin as a strand of hair.

"The biggest threat to bats is human ignorance," says Cyndi. "Bats who roost in colonies are especially vulnerable. People who don't want bats in their house or barn often just seal them in to die, killing entire colonies, even though this is illegal in Florida." 

Once dimished, replenishing bat populations proves difficult, as most bats only have one "pup" per year. Breeding bats or raising babies in captivity usually fails, because bat mothers teach hunting by echolocation to their offspring. 

Above, Cyndi Marks displays a Florida bonneted bat, sometimes called a "mastiff bat." This is the biggest bat in Florida, as well as the most critically endangered. Only about 350 of these bats are left in the wild. Audience members were also introduced to the smallest bat species in Florida, called an evening bat, plus a Brazilian free tail bat. Cyndi also displayed a velvity free-tail, which is Key West's resident bat species. This particular bat was found near the high school with a permanently damaged wing. 

While the Markses were in town, Florida Keys Audubon, with the help of the City of Key West and the Key West Wildlife Center, hung two bathouses in Little Hamaca City Park. 

Most likely, the inhabitants will be velvity free-tail bats, also sometimes called Cuban house bats or pallas mastiff bats, as these are the bats most commonly found in Key West. We'll be sure to check back frequently to see who has moved in!