Recently, a friend of mine spotted a dead bat on a sidewalk in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, in broad daylight—a Big Brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) baking in the sun. Days later, someone posted a photo of another dead bat—this one a Silver Haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans) in Midtown—on Reddit. There, other New Yorkers quickly chimed in with their own bat-spotting stories, including one person who discovered a bat inside of their apartment. So it's time to ask, "Holy Jesus. What are these goddamn animals?"

First, let us say that bats are good, and necessary. Angelo Soto-Centeno, Research Associate of Mammalogy at American Museum of Natural History, told Gothamist this week: "Bats are important to humans in three main ways: natural pest control, pollinators of flowers, and seed dispersers." Here in New York, all 9 species that are present "are insectivorous and excellent predators of insects... [they] play an important role as natural pest control because many species can eat up to one-third of their body weight in insects per night."

They target many kinds of insects that are of agricultural importance (e.g. moths, beetles, flies) and help us reduce the numbers of these insects without the use of pesticides. About 23% of NY state land is used for agricultural production. Because bats are distributed throughout the entire state, they provide this free ecosystem service to humans across all landscapes.

They also keep mosquito populations under control.

The recent sightings of the dead Silver Haired and Big Brown bats—two of the 5 species found in NYC; the latter being the most common here, often found roosting in manmade structures—weren't actually all that common. Soto-Centeno told us, "We have a decent resident bat community in the city [Little Brown bats, Big Brown bats, Hoary bats, Red bats, and Silver Haired bats]," however, he added, "finding dead bats is not super common if we consider that their numbers are quite high compared to what we see."

So what do you if you see a bat, dead or alive? First off, you may question if it's truly dead, but in the case of that Silver Haired bat posted on Reddit, Soto-Centeno tells us, "It is very unlikely that this bat was alive. They do not 'play dead' like other animals do. If it was alive, it was probably extremely stressed out or nearly dead." If the bat looks dead, it is either dead or not well; all bats sleep by hanging upside down, not by laying on a surface.

Here are some tips from Soto-Centeno, who warns: "Because bats are wild animals, I would not recommend picking one up if you have not had proper training."

  • If the animal is being at risk and something must be done, the best way to handle it safely is to find a small box and either thick gloves or a towel. You can safely/gently pick up the bat without the risk of being bitten and put it in the box. Then you can take it somewhere safe for release. Keep in mind that the bat will be a bit stressed out and it may not fly. If that happens, you could try hanging it on a tree.
  • If the bat is flying inside a house, the best way to deal with it is by opening a door or window and let it find its way out. It may help if you close other doors in the house so that the bat has only a limited area to fly in. This will make it more likely for the bat to find the open door/window.

However, it would more comical if you ran around a little bit first as your son with an Irish accent narrated and filmed the entire ordeal.