Portland, Oregon –
Let’s move on to Fat Bear Week. The bat beauty contest is now gearing up.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has been hosting an online contest since 2019 to raise awareness about the ecological importance of this animal. The federal agency is posting photos of bats on its Facebook and Instagram accounts and asking people to vote for the cutest bat. The bats are part of a wild population on public land and were photographed by agency staff.
The first round of voting began on Thursday, with Townsend’s big-eared bat from Utah named “Sir Flaps-A-Lot” competing against a short-eared bat from Oregon named “Holly Potter.” Ta. The competition coincides with the start of Bat Week, during which national and international bat experts host educational events celebrating the only flying mammal.
The Townsend’s long-eared bat’s distinguishing feature is, of course, its ears, which can reach 1.5 inches (38 millimeters) in length. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said in a Facebook post introducing the first two contestants that the large ear funnels deliver sound into the ear canals, provide lift during flight and help regulate temperature.
Hoary bats, on the other hand, are known for flying quickly and curling their tails to disguise themselves as leaves and hide from predators, the agency said. He estimated that this trait would make Hoary Potter “the perfect candidate for this year’s Quidditch team,” after the Harry Potter game played on a flying broomstick.
Neither species is listed as federally endangered or endangered. However, Oregon has added them to its list of species of conservation concern, and Utah has taken similar action for Townsend’s long-eared bats.
Bats around the world play an important role in the environment by eating insects and pollinating flowers and fruits, said BLM wildlife technician Emma Busk, who took the photo of Hoary Potter. But they face increasing threats from habitat loss, disease and light pollution, and are often mistaken for being carriers of deadly diseases, she says.
“There are a lot of fears and misconceptions about bats,” she said, noting that people often associate rabies with bats. “However, 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 is rooting for Hoary Potter, hoping that the Oregon Butt will win the beauty pageant for the third time. Last year, the female Townsend’s long-eared bat “William Shakespeare” from southern Oregon, which Bask also photographed, won the honor. And in 2022, a canyon bat named Barbara, also from southern Oregon, was declared the winner.
“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.
Rounds of the beauty pageant will continue into next week. It is scheduled to end next Thursday on Halloween, at which time the winner will be announced.
