A mine of their own; groups work to give bats a place to hang out.

Preserve manager Bill Brown switched on the light on his coal miner helmet and waited his turn to slide down the steep snow-covered entrance to the abandoned Hague Mine in upstate New York. Already safely inside, his colleagues from the Adirondack Nature Conservancy & Land Trust (ANCLT), along with a team of journalists who were accompanying them that day, gave him the signal to go, and Brown descended into the mine, glad to trade the below-zero temperatures outside for the more than 120,000 hibernating little brown and big brown bats that awaited his arrival below.

With that many bats hibernating from October to April, this mine is probably the largest bat "hibernaculum"--or place where bats sleep--in the Northeast today. In 1992, the ANCLT purchased the conservation rights to the mine. They are now working not only to organize the mine's annual bat count, but to promote their new "Adopt-A-Bat" program, created to help cover the expense of their conservation efforts and educate the public on the virtues of bats. For every dollar donated, a single bat is assured a safe place to sleep in the mine for the winter.

Who are these furry little sleepers? Little brown bats range over a large part of North America--as far north as Alaska and south into central Mexico. Catching more than 600 mosquitoes in one hour, these common amber-colored bats have the longest life span of any mammal their size, often exceeding 32 years. From nose to tale tip, little brown bats measure only three or four inches, with their wings spanning eight to 10 inches. Adult little browns weigh three to four ounces. Big browns, despite their name, are only about an inch bigger, running four to five inches in length with a wing span of about a foot. Big brown bats inhabit the southern portion of Canada, south to Mexico and Central America. Residing in attics, basements, hollow trees and mines, big browns are considered relatively common throughout their range. They, too, are tremendous insect eaters, feeding in the same place each night. In fact, a mere 150 big brown bats can eat a sufficient number of cucumber beetles each summer to protect farmers from 18 million of their larvae (called root worms), which cost American farmers billions of dollars annually.

The Conservancy folks aren't the only ones stepping up to bat for bats. The Maryland-based American Bat Conservation Society (ABCS) has been identifying natural bat roosts, and tracking the success rates of the "bat boxes" now sold in many gardening catalogs, in an effort to determine what bats need in a roost site. And the Texas-based Bat Conservation International (BCI), founded in 1982 by world-renowned bat authority Dr. Merlin Tuttle, helps document and promote the value and conservation needs of bats worldwide. Both groups answer thousands of bat inquiries yearly from private citizens, government agencies and environmental organizations.

Re-educating the public about bats is a high priority--and for good reason. The fear that people have of bats has led to many "bat bashings"--disturbances which have forced bats to flee the caves they use naturally, and seek refuge in places like abandoned mines.

However, bats may not even be safe as they sleep in these mines many miles underground. Due to federal and state mine reclamation efforts, many abandoned mines in North America and Canada are now being closed and filled with tons of earth. "BCI sounded the alarm on mine closures," says Dr. Tuttle. "A million bats can easily be buried alive in their hibernaculum and no one would even know it."

According to BCI's pamphlet, Bats and Mines, nearly 40 percent of U.S. bats are candidates for--or are already on--the Endangered Species List. Closures of abandoned mines without first conducting biological surveys could endanger even currently-abundant species.

In December 1993, BCI reacted quickly to a tip from an amateur cave explorer who said there were bats in the Millie Hill Mine in Iron Mountain, Michigan which was on the spring closure list. How many bats? No one knew for sure. What BCI did know, however, was that if the mine closure wasn't stopped they would never have the opportunity to find out. Later, after the mine was saved, it was estimated to be the second largest hibernaculum in North America, with one million little brown and big brown bats continuing to sleep easy there.

Tuttle says that many communities faced with mine closures have found it much more economical to install a specially designed "bat friendly" gate at the mine's entrance than to fill in the mines. "This type of gate allows the bats to come and go as they please," he says, "without letting intruders in." Tuttle does not consider a bat site protected until it's secured by such a gate, which should be installed under expert supervision.

Bat-friendly gates vary in design, depending upon the mine's entrance, but most appear much like the large metal cages used by scientists to study and film sharks from. The bars are spaced closely enough for bats to easily pass through--but not humans. Without such gates, more bats may suffer the same cruel fate as the largest recorded population of western big-eared bats, which were killed after vandals set fire to the timbers inside a New Mexico mine in which they were hibernating.

But why do people fear bats so?

BCI's Robert Benson says that most bat phobias may stem from a single bad bat experience, "which seems to set an opinion about bats for life"--or even from ficticious experiences passed along by others. Contrary to what your grandmother might have told you, bats fly using an extremely sophisticated type of sonar, called echolocation, which would completely foil any chance of them getting tangled in your hair.

Dracula movies, plus the current prevalence of rabies stories in the news, don't help either. In fact, less than half of one percent of all bats carry rabies, a disease more commonly found in raccoons, foxes and skunks. Of course, bats that are not provoked by humans have no need to bite in the first place. On a positive note, Benson adds, "Although people still might not like the idea of bats near them, they are starting to appreciate their benefits."

Tropical bats play an important role in the rainforest ecosystem. They aid in the dispersal of cashew, date and fig seeds; pollinate banana, breadfruit and mango trees; and indirectly help in producing tequila by pollinating agave plants.

In addition, bats' cave droppings provide habitat for specialized bacteria, which may be useful in removing nitrogen from industrial wastes before it can get into and pollute our water sources. The countless microorganisms found in bat droppings also produce enzymes useful in the production of vitamins, antibiotics, pesticides and herbicides. Even the much-feared vampire bat has an anticoagulant in its saliva, which may prove valuable in treating heart patients.

Tuttle notes that, in the fight to save bats, there is something that anyone can do: "If you know of areas where mines are targeted for closure, and think there might be bats hibernating in them, please call BCI and let us know." Contact: BCI, P.O. Box 162603, Austin, TX 78716/[phone]; ABCS, P.O. Box 1393, Rockville, MD 20849/[phone].