Two tiny species of flying, nocturnal, insect-eating, hibernating mammals — the Northern long-eared bat and the Indiana bat — have become slightly entangled in the approval process for the proposed Pulvers Corners solar farm.
The visibility of unsightly panels and worries about property depreciation have fueled much of the debate around the project, led by the solar power and storage company Carson Power. But the project has also forced a review of how a solar farm may impact wildlife populations, including vulnerable bat species.
Noelle Rayman-Metcalf, an endangered species biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) field office in Cortland, New York, says bats deserve appreciation and protection for being “hands down the best natural insect control we have.”
“The bats we have in New York are insectivorous. One-hundred percent of their diet is feeding in insects – mostly larger, beefier insects, such as beetles,” she said. “Without them on the landscape, people may resort to more pesticide use.”
A number of bat species, however, are not doing well. Populations of Indiana bats have declined by half since it was first designated as an endangered species in 1973. The Northern long-eared bat was added to the endangered list by the FWS in late 2022.
One major concern for both species is white nose syndrome, a fungal disease first detected in the United States in 2007. Rayman-Metcalf says the fungus typically infects bats while they’re hibernating, often in caves, in the winter months. “They’re fighting this off while they’re hibernating, but they have a reduced metabolism,” she said. “So the fungus takes advantage of them in that state of torpor, when they’re just trying to conserve energy.”
The fungal disease can also repeatedly awaken them, weakening them further. “They’re waking up and they’re starving and wanting food, but it’s the middle of winter. It’s a really awful process,” said Rayman-Metcalf, who helped coordinate national efforts to fight the spread of the fungus.
“That was an incredible job, very sad,” she said. “We were dealing with dead bats all over the Northeast, and trying to figure out what to do, developing decontamination protocols and a national plan.”
Current research into white nose syndrome includes the development of a vaccine, using a virus that is harmless to bats, which is currently being field tested. The fungus is not infectious to humans.
Bats and the Pulvers Corners Project
Northern long-eared bats and Indiana bats who survive hibernation emerge in the spring looking for certain types of trees to roost in. These include large hickories and black locusts – trees with layered, peeling bark that offers cavities for the bats, which are smaller than a person’s finger, to burrow under.
The Pulvers Corners project, which proposes to cut down between 23 and 26 acres of woodlands, includes some of these tree species. In a report produced by Hudsonia, a nonprofit institute in Annandale, New York, Executive Director and ecologist Erik Kiviat noted that “there is a grove of large black locusts comprising 20 or more locusts with stems in the approximately 2- foot diameter range… there are also large black locusts scattered elsewhere.”
The report was prepared for Grant & Lyons LLP, a law firm hired by a group of Pine Plains residents who live near the proposed solar farm project and are opposed to its construction. Lawyer John Lyons, who is advocating for the Planning Board to request a full environmental impact study – a step that would almost certainly delay the project’s potential starting date – submitted the Hudsonia report and other impact analyses to the board ahead of a March 11 public meeting on the project.
However, the loss of potential roosting sites for local bats is not expected to be a decisive factor in the board’s consideration of the proposed solar farm. CP&Y, the engineering and field services firm contracted by Carson Power, surveyed the proposed site in 2021 and recommended that trees clearance would pose no direct threat to the tiny mammals if it was performed during the so-called wintertime “bat window,” when they are hibernating elsewhere.
According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, it is white nose syndrome, and not habitat, that is currently limiting bat populations: “Removal of trees from the landscape is generally not considered harmful unless there are potentially bats within the trees during the time they are harvested or otherwise removed from the landscape.” The Hudsonia report also states that construction should “ideally” take place during the winter hibernation.
Carson Power has agreed to this stipulation. Andrew Gordon, a senior project developer at Carson Power, said tree cutting would not begin until November at the earliest. The firm, however, is still waiting for a formal evaluation from the Fish and Wildlife Service on the potential impact of the project on the Northern long-eared and Indiana bats.
At a meeting of the Pine Plains Planning Board on May 12, it was noted that the solar farm proposal can’t proceed without agreement from the FWS that there will be no impact on the tiny endangered bats.
As the acknowledged “bat lead in the office,” it is Rayman-Metcalf who will take on that responsibility. She said she is aware of the request but noted a large backlog of applications for endangered species review.
Rayman-Metcalf declined to discuss the Pulvers Corners project specifically, but agreed that trees could be cut during wintertime with no threat to bats. In other solar projects she’s reviewed, bat populations were surveyed before and after construction. “They found that bats are still using the area even after the solar installation. They’re still able to navigate around and over these panels without a lot of difficulty,” she said.
Protecting Bats Where You Live
Rayman-Metcalf adds that homeowners can help protect bat populations as well by retaining and protecting any trees on their property that are suitable for roosting. Other ways to protect bats include reducing use of pesticides in wetlands and waterways. “Weed killers can get into the waterways and bats will fly over the water and they’ll drink it on the wing. Plus, if you’re killing insects, you’re killing their prey base. The way I look at it, just try to keep your yard natural.”
If you find bats in your home, it’s best to hire a wildlife control operator to get rid of them, she says. While it’s a myth that bats intentionally swoop down to bite people, they can bite out of fear if a person tries to pick one up with their bare hands.
Although only a tiny percentage of bats carry rabies, they are responsible for nearly 70% of rabies cases in humans. If you think you’ve been bitten or scratched, wash the area with soap and water, and seek medical attention immediately. If possible, catch the bat so it can be tested for rabies. There is effective rabies treatment available, but it should be initiated as soon after the bite as possible.
If you find bats in your home, it doesn’t mean they’re rabid, explains Rayman-Metcalf. It may just mean they flew in an open window or down the chimney or even through a small hole in the roof. A wildlife control expert can build a one-way extruder to get them out of the house, and then go and plug up any holes so they can’t get back in. (If you do decide to handle the situation by yourself, stay away from the bats, using, for example, a broom to guide them out of an open window or door. )
If bats are found inside in the wintertime, however, Rayman-Metcalf recommends that you “leave them until it’s warmer out. If you kick them out in the wintertime, it’s pretty much a death sentence.” If you use a professional to extrude bats from your home in warmer months, she notes, it’s also a good time to install a bat house. That way they’ll have a comfortable home away from your home from which to control insects.