Bats in the Park

Northern long-eared bats have been found in the park.

© T. Krynak

Bats in the Cuyahoga Valley spend time in rock crevices, barns, culverts, and even under tree bark. They can be spotted emerging from their roosts around dusk on summer evenings. Nine bat species have been documented in the park in recent years. However, as of 2022 the Indiana bat was no longer observed in the park. The eight bat species still found in the Cuyahoga Valley are:

• Big brown bat
• Tri-colored bat (proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act)
• Hoary bat
• Little brown bat
• Northern long-eared bat (federally endangered species)
• Eastern red bat
• Evening bat
• Silver-haired bat

Ice Box Cave, at the Ledges, used to be a popular stop for visitors. The cave is now closed until further notice, in order to prevent the spread of white-nose syndrome (WNS), a disease that affects cave-hibernating bats.

After being discovered in New York in the winter of 2006-2007, WNS has spread to dozens of other states and Canadian provinces, devastating the populations of bats in its path. Biologists from Summit Metro Parks detected WNS at the Liberty Park Reservation in Twinsburg, when they discovered a dead little brown bat outside one of the park's off-trail caves in January 2012. WNS was confirmed in the specimen by researchers at the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study in Athens, Georgia.

Since the discovery of WNS in Summit Metro Parks, the composition of bats in Cuyahoga Valley has dramatically changed. Before WNS reached our park, the northern long-eared bat was our most common species. Now, the northern long eared bat is uncommon in Cuyahoga Valley. Meanwhile, the big brown bat populations have increased because they have some form of natural immunity against WNS and roost in human-made structures.

Field signs of WNS can include visible white fungal growth on the bat's muzzle and/or wing tissue. Infected bats also often display abnormal behaviors in their hibernation sites, such as movement toward the mouth of caves and daytime flights during winter. These abnormal behaviors may contribute to the untimely consumption of stored fat reserves causing emaciation, a characteristic documented in a portion of the bats that die from WNS.

 

Cave-dwelling little brown bats displaying white-nose syndrome on their muzzles.

Photo by Nancy Heaslip, NY Dept. of Environmental Conservation

You Can Help

WNS is spread by bat-to-bat transmission and by humans transporting fungal spores on their shoes, clothes, and other gear from contaminated sites to new sites. WNS does not affect human health, in part because the fungus requires temperatures cooler than the human body to survive.

Park visitors can help slow the spread of this disease and reduce disturbance to bats by respecting cave closures and reporting any unusual bat activity to our Communications Center at 440-546-5945.