When you think of flying animals that make their home around Lane Tech, you would probably think of songbirds or more likely the ever present flocks of geese. But would you believe that Lane makes a great spot for bats to live both near and on the grounds?
Michelle Loh, a conservation sciences and wildlife teacher at Lane said, “Well, bats are attracted to insects, right? They’re insectivores, so here in this area, we have our local park, Clark Park, Horner Park all along the river, which attracts insects for them to eat, and then we also have some of the greenery around here at Lane Tech.”
The large amount of green space around Lane presents a big space for insects to breed and lay eggs, which then provides a food source for the bats.
The Lincoln Park Zoo has a program called Partners in Fieldwork where high school students and researchers from the zoo collaborate by gathering data at the schools and in turn learning about urban wildlife by doing research projects. Lane has been working with this program since 2023.
Data gathered from a bat monitor at Lane – a device that listens for bat cries – from Partners in Fieldwork shows that four species of bats frequent Lane at night. These species are the Eastern Red Bat, the Silver Haired Bat, the Big Brown Bat and occasionally the Hoary Bat. Experts take the data and, with the help of a program, identify the bat species recorded according to the Lincoln Park Zoo. This lets students and researchers know the general populations of bats and diversity of bat species in a certain area.
“Something we’ve been trying to improve with Partners in Fieldwork is empathy for urban wildlife.” said Niki Melnick, a program facilitator and correspondent at Lincoln Park Zoo. “Living in a city, and especially growing up in a city, it can feel very distanced from nature and the wildlife living around there. Melnick said, “You can see the common types of animals more as pests or just nuisances, or they’re just also here, but learning more about them will allow you to see things from their perspective and that they’re also just trying to survive in this environment that was changed very rapidly.”
Last school year, the bat monitor picked up an average of 253.4 recordings per day according to data gathered through Partners in Fieldwork. The second highest average number of recordings was 65.0 per day at the Lincoln Park Zoo. The monitor takes a recording whenever a bat makes a sound.
Although bats frequent Lane, it isn’t likely that they are living in the building. “There might be some roosting areas, but I wouldn’t say here at Lane,” Loh said. “Originally, I thought, maybe they were in the clock tower. I know they like to get into small areas, but I’m sure the school has done a good job sealing the area. We have had students see bats in the area or hanging around roosting on the corners of the building, and I think it’s mostly because we’re next to the greenery.”
According to the Lincoln Park Zoo, most bat species in Illinois prefer to roost in the woods in tree crevices or underneath loose bark, however the big brown bat will roost in “any crevice available.”
Bats provide a lot of value to the ecosystems that they inhabit, and for the school community, as they control insect populations. Loh said that bats are helpful for “decreasing the mosquito population around here. Especially since we’re by the river, and there’s always a lot of spaces for there to just be pools of water here on the greenery.”
Nationwide, species like the long ear bat, the tri-color bat, and the little brown bat are under threat from white nose syndrome, according to the Lincoln Park Zoo. White nose syndrome is a fungal infection that results in bats waking too early, expending too much energy, and starving.
Programs that monitor bats, such as Partners in Fieldwork, help to determine how populations are affected by white nose syndrome, and what are the best ways to protect America’s bats.
For schools to help these bat populations Melnick said that, “We have been learning about light pollution and noise pollution. Those are two very big things for bats, hunting and surviving, so making sure the lights are turned off. I know sometimes that can be a safety thing, but as much as possible.”
Loh also offered ways to help: “Definitely having some bat houses connected to the building, like on the sides, especially if they’re in the neighborhood. It does take about a year or more for bats to actually use the bat houses, so that would take time, but it is wonderful seeing the increase of the bird houses that were added by the art department. So continuing that conservation and idea into a display for the bats would be nice.”
Bats remain an often overlooked part of our city, but they seem to have found a place at Lane.
