May the strongest bat win.
The Bureau of Land Management is celebrating Bat Week with its 5th Annual Bat Beauty Contest, pitting some of the night’s most popular winged creatures against each other.
The contest celebrates the spookiest time of the year and raises awareness for bat conservation efforts, which face increasing threats such as habitat loss, disease and light pollution, said Emma Busk, a wildlife technician with the department. It is said that this is a two-pronged effort to promote this.
Contestant “Holy Potter”‘s bat is perched on a tree. AP
Basque particularly highlighted the many misconceptions that have been placed on bats, including the false predisposition to diseases like rabies.
“There are many fears and misconceptions about bats, but less than 1% of the bat population actually carries rabies, and the rate of disease transmission from bats to humans is actually very low. ” Bask said.
The beauty pageant was originally launched in 2019 to raise awareness of the ecological importance of bats, along with other viral festivals such as Fat Bear Week. The federal agency is sharing photos of the contestants on its Facebook and Instagram accounts and asking the public to decide which bat is the cutest.
All of the bats featured are part of wild populations and live on public lands, but are photographed and named by agency staff.
A bat’s name may play a bigger role in the contest than its cuteness.
Last year’s winner was a female Townsend’s long-eared bat from southern Oregon called “William Shakespeare.” But in 2022, a homely canyon bat named “Barbara” from southern Oregon triumphed.
This year, Bask is supporting Hoary Potter, a hoary bat from Oregon who was photographed for the contest. Her favorite to win faced off Thursday against a big-eared bat named “Sir Flaps-A-Lot” from Utah in Townsend.
A bat with an open mouth, “Myotis’s Honey Bunch.” AP
Neither species is listed as endangered, but both species are on the list of species in need of conservation attention in Oregon. Utah did something similar, but only for Townsend’s long-eared bats.
“All we do every year is collect as much data as possible about the species in our resource areas so we know how to better protect them in the future,” Bask said.
Townsend’s long-eared bats, like the one entered in the contest, are known for their ears, as their name suggests. Their ears can grow up to 1.5 inches, which is nearly a third of their average whole body size.
A bat hanging from a rock. Part of the Bureau of Land Management’s Bat Beauty Contest. Bureau of Land Management
The Holly Bat, named for the contest after its quick flight and camouflage abilities, made it “the perfect candidate for this year’s Quidditch Team Seekers,” officials said.
The beauty pageant is scheduled to end this Thursday on Halloween.
Comes with post wire.
