In February 2025, the National Park Service took down a dead tree near a playground in the District’s Woodley Park neighborhood. They did not know that they were removing an active bat hibernation site. Fortunately, park service workers noticed a dormant Silver-haired Bat under the loose bark of one of the pieces of the downed tree and they brought him to City Wildlife.
This bat, a healthy but sleepy male, was one of the very first bats that City Wildlife has ever had the privilege of helping. Since we opened our rehabilitation center in 2013, the arrangement with the District government mandated that City Wildlife would not treat rabies vector species (those types of animals in which rabies are more prevalent). Bats being one of those vector species, they were on the forbidden list. But that provision was removed in February 2025,
the same month that the Silver-haired Bat arrived. The ability to admit and rehabilitate bats is, we feel, a very important step forward for our center and a major opportunity to expand its mission in a way that is both timely and desperately needed. The District of Columbia hosts eight species of bats. Three of those Little Brown, Northern Long-eared, and Tricolored, breed in D.C, and each of those species has seen their population crash by as much as 90 percent. The Northern Long-eared is now listed among federally endangered species and the Tricolored Bat’s endangered listing has been officially proposed. So steep and sudden is the Tricolored’s decline that, if the listing is successful, they will skip the threatened stage and go immediately to endangered.
The declines in the populations are largely due to White Nose Syndrome, a fungal disease to which bats are susceptible. There is no known treatment for the disease, though researchers are working on a vaccine, as well as a probiotic method for controlling fungal infections in bats. Should these efforts prove effective, City Wildlife’s ability to treat the bats in our care could be a critically needed source of support for these unique, ecologically essential, and useful animals. The National Park Service released the Silver-haired Bat, who arrived in February 2025 back in his home territory once the weather became suitable. And this year, City Wildlife has a total of five bats, three Silver-haired, one Eastern Red, and one Big Brown, waiting until conditions allow for their release.
How You Can Help Bats
PLANT NATIVES!
Worldwide, bats eat many things, but the bats in our area eat insects. Unfortunately, many insects are in trouble, too. The number of moths, one of the most important food sources for bats, has plunged by a startling 85 percent in the past 70 years. People plant milkweed for Monarchs, but we also need to plant native plants as hosts for the moths that bats need. For help with native plant gardening, look online for the University of Maryland’s new, free, and comprehensive Maryland Native Plant Guide: Piedmont Region.
TURN OFF THE LIGHTS!
While some bats use our artificial lights for hunting, others are so reluctant to venture into the light of streetlamps and floodlights that for them areas
illuminated at night are no-fly zones. Sadly, these include our Little Brown, Long-eared and Tricolored bats, all three of the most critically threatened
species. Add to that the fact that excessive nighttime lighting is one of the major reasons that moths and other insects are disappearing, and we have plenty of
good reasons to turn off our porch lights at night.
WHAT ABOUT BAT HOUSES?
Bat houses are tricky. Even the best houses, suitably placed, can go uninhabited for years. For best luck, make sure your bat house is warmed by southern or
eastern exposure to the sun, placed as high as you can get it (pole mountings are best), is in a totally dark location, and has a free space beneath. Bats
need to drop a considerable distance before they can take wing. A bat house that is not properly maintained or one that is placed in an area where pesticides are used or cats roam free can do more harm than good. Hands down, the best bat house is a tree, and dead trees with loose bark are especially useful.
