Winged night stalkers invade Yuba-Sutter

They colonize in attics and seek shelter under roof shingles. Sometimes, they appear downtown in broad daylight, prompting calls to police and health officials.

Bats — those blind, flying, nocturnal mammals that inspire fright and comic book characters — are among the Mid-Valley's most plentiful and mysterious residents, especially in the summer.

"Sometimes they get caught out after dawn without a place to sleep," says David Wyatt, assistant professor of biology at Sacramento City College.

Marysville Police Chief Wally Fullerton says that his first day on the job in September became memorable when he took a break to open a bank account and was called upon to capture a bat inside the building.

The Yuba County Courthouse once was a bat colony's headquarters, and the attic of at least one downtown Marysville home serves as a nesting place for thousands of the winged animals.

Wyatt, who counts bats in the Sutter Buttes for the California Department of Fish and Game, says that after gorging themselves all night long on mosquitoes and other local pests, bats may wander, exhausted, into a bank or coffee shop.

"It's like they're finding the cheapest motel in town," he says. "You know, like when you really need to rest all of the sudden."

Ridding a building of an entrenched bat colony is especially difficult because it is illegal to move the animals under state law, except with a special permit.

And bat droppings — or guano — can cause property damage and health risks.

The homeowner whose attic is overrun, says Marysville Police Capt. Mike Wilson, has done everything she can think of to persuade her bats to leave, but without success.

She filed a damage claim with her homeowner's insurance company, but the claim was rejected.

Ridding her house of bats and having her roof tiles individually sealed shut — the recommended solution from a permitted bat removal specialist — will cost the homeowner nearly $6,000.

Animal cops

Wilson has been on his share of bat calls.

The department's new second-in-command says he never expected his law enforcement career to be so closely tied to wildlife management. He is currently taking extra biology-related classes at Yuba College in order to serve as a resident expert on the police force.

"It's unbelievable how much time animal business keeps us involved with," he says.

The department gets frequent calls about bats seen around town during daylight hours. Residents often are co cerned about the possibility of being bit by a rabid bat.

The animals carry rabies, "with no more frequency than any other mammal," says Wyatt. "But they are in such huge numbers. You don't have colonies of a thousand skunks like you do bats. That would be bad."

One Sutter County child had to undergo a series of painful rabies shots several years ago after discovering a dead bat in his backyard that turned out to have rabies.

But such occurrences happen infrequently, Wyatt says.

The professor has been capturing bats in the Sutter Buttes for 10 years. He says the Buttes are beginning to gain a reputation among bat scientists and enthusiasts as a kind of bat mecca.

About a dozen species of bats live there, including the Mexican free-tailed bat, the one most commonly seen in Marysville and Yuba City.

They also include both the largest and smallest bat species found in North America.

On the large end of that spectrum is the Mastiff bat, which has an 18- to 20-inch wing span, and which is the only bat on the continent that has a call deep enough to be heard by the human ear, according to Wyatt.

That call, known as an echo locator, allows the animal to study the landscape without the use of sight.

The smallest bat, which is plentiful in the buttes, is the Western Pipistrelle, the body of which is small enough to rest on the tip of a human index finger.

Bat hikes

Though not everyone is thrilled by the prospect of seeing bats up close and personal, three annual night hikes that Wyatt leads in the Sutter Buttes for the Middle Mountain Foundation are popular events.

The two he led earlier this month each had a lengthy waiting list, according to Karen Morrison, event coordinator for the foundation.

Wyatt brings acoustic equipment to hear bat calls, which he says, "sound like a high-pitched, metallic chirp."

And he traps a few of the animals in fine mesh netting so his hikers can see their features.

A crowd-pleaser, and Wyatt's personal favorite, is the 16-inch Pallid Bat, which he describes as "blonde, with a pug nose."

"They're absolutely charming and very appealing to us bat people," he says, "and they smell a little skunky."

Hikers and scientists are not the only ones who appreciate the abundance of bug-eating night fliers in the area.

Farmers and ranchers rely on them to kill pests, as do many local river recreationists.

Paul Holck rides his personal watercraft on most hot days and is glad for every mosquito that dies before biting him.

He says he's happy about the colony of bats making their home in the roof of his East Marysville auto repair shop.

At dusk, thousands emerge during a 10-minute period to begin their hunt for food.

"We sit out here and watch 'em fly out," Holck says. "It's really something to see."

For those having a random but unwanted encounter with bats in their home or workplace, Wyatt says, "open doors and windows and sit quietly. They don't really want to be there. They'll want to leave."

Trapping a bat in a cardboard box is fine, he says, "but remember that it's a wild animal, and that you need to call in a specialist."

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Nancy Pasternack at 749-4712 or at npasternack@appealdemocrat.com