While searching for monarch butterflies to catch and tag, I decided to walk through Mark and Sue’s backyard and towards the spruce trees, a popular roosting site for hundreds of visiting monarchs. I had my sights set on the orange wings of the monarchs — preferably ones resting in the foliage and unsuspecting of my net.
The bat on the maple tree! Photo by Emma Raasch
From a distance I saw something brick orange, nestled in the foliage of a maple tree. It was certainly unsuspecting of my net, but it was most certainly not a monarch! I approached the little orange lump in the tree wondering... is it a gall of some sort? A dead leaf? As I got closer, half-way preparing to bump it with my net, I stopped and admired someone who I’ve come to visit for days after: an Eastern red bat, most likely a male due to its bright brick orange/red color, which contrasts to the frosty-tipped and more dull appearance of female Eastern red bats.
Myself and those around me began to wonder: is it okay? Why is it out in the daytime? Why is it alone? Aren’t bats supposed to be hidden away in caves?
Unlike Wisconsin’s cave bat species such as little brown bats, big brown bats, Northern long-eared bats, and Eastern pipistrelles who roost in groups in caves, Eastern red bats are referred to as tree bats, migratory bats, or foliage-roosting bats. That meaning they roost solitarily, most often in trees, and migrate south for the winter. According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Eastern red bats typically roost 1-6 meters off the ground on the south-side of large deciduous trees like elms and maples, however they occasionally will roost in coniferous trees as well.
The Eastern red bat at Goose Pond did not stray from these descriptions: I found the bat on at least five separate days, four of which were on the same maple tree and one time on a nearby spruce, each time on the south-facing side of the tree about the same height off the ground. Therefore, it was perfectly normal to find an Eastern red bat hanging in the foliage, and perhaps not uncommon for it to be there- just uncommon to have spotted it!
Eastern red bat camouflaging as a spruce cone. Photo by Emma Raasch
Eastern red bat in the maple tree behind Mark and Sue’s house. Photo by Emma Raasch
While Wisconsin’s four cave bat species can be found hibernating in caves in the winter, our four tree bat species, silver-haired bats, hoary bats, evening bats, and of course, Eastern red bats, migrate south for the winter. That being said, we can expect the furry red Goose Pond resident to depart in the coming weeks as Eastern red bats typically head for warmer climates in September and October.
Map Courtesy of Montana Field Guide
Although this Eastern red bat may have gotten the most attention, it is not the only Eastern red bat to visit Goose Pond Sanctuary. In 2008, Mark Martin, Sue Foote-Martin, and Brand Smith started conducting bat surveys at Goose Pond Sanctuary and Schoeneberg Marsh using acoustic monitors that detect bat species based on their unique “voice” or frequency. Although there were no Eastern red bats detected at Schoeneberg Marsh in August of 2008, Eastern red bat frequencies were detected 9 times in 2016, but only once in 2019. At Goose Pond Sanctuary, Eastern red bats were detected twice in 2008 and 2019, but there were no detections in 2016. However, this is the first time an Eastern red bat has been detected at the Kampen road residence!
Next time you are wandering around Goose Pond Sanctuary, another natural area, or even your backyard- keep an eye out for the orange dying leaves and spruce cones...they may be more than they seem!
Written by Emma Raasch, seasonal employee at Goose Pond Sanctuary
