bats

NRCA Student Identifies New Bat Species

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Aiden photographing the batUConn’s Conservation Training Partnership (CTP) program within the Natural Resources Conservation Academy pairs teen and adult volunteers together to conduct local community conservation projects throughout the state.
 
One of our current teams is working on a project to help raise awareness about bats in the northwest corner of Connecticut for the Kent Land Trust and Marvelwood School. CTP participants Laurie Doss and Aiden Cherniske recently took an exciting detour from their project to help state wildlife rehabilitators, Linda Bowen and Maureen Heidtmann, photograph a bat to determine its species identification.
 
Using macrophotography techniques, Aiden was able to capture an image of the bat’s tragus – a piece of skin in front of the ear canal and an important feature in identifying bats to species.
 
The photographs were sent to state and federal wildlife officials, and used to help confirm that the bat raised in rehabilitation was indeed a federally threatened Northern Long Eared Bat (Myotis septentrionalis). Fortunately, the bat survived the rehabilitation efforts and was able to be released back into its natural environment.

Bats and Rabies: How UConn May Help

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The Connecticut Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (CVMDL) within the Department of Pathobiology and Veterinary Science (PVS) in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR) at the University of Connecticut routinely tests domestic and wild animals for rabies. Rabies is one of the oldest recognized diseases to mankind. Rabies can affect all warm-blooded animals which plays an important role in transmission of the disease and serve as reservoirs for the rabies virus.

To detect rabies in animals, a set of strict standard operating procedures are followed. The CVMDL performs a Direct Immunofluorescent Assay (DFA) on brain tissue derived from dead animals. These animals, usually with a history of abnormal behavior, are submitted to the laboratory for testing.

The CVMDL tests many domestic and wild animal species on a weekly basis for rabies. Among them, bats are a fairly common submission to CVMDL for rabies testing. For instance, during 2016, a total of 28 bats were submitted to CVMDL, with the majority of the submissions taking place during the months of June, July and August. All of these bats tested negative for rabies.

graph of 2016 rabies tests in bats

Interestingly enough, in 2017, CVMDL has already tested 40 bats for rabies. The virus was detected in the brains of two bats that were submitted to the lab in July and October, respectively. Remember, always be cautious when dealing with wild animals. CVMDL suggests to call your local animal control to help collecting or trapping wild animals.

For more information, visit cvmdl.uconn.edu or contact 860-486-3738 or CVMDL@uconn.edu.