THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 1, 1995 TAG: 9412290171
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA
LENGTH: Long : 155 lines
THE GATESVILLE WOMAN was hysterical when she placed the telephone call to Edenton's Paris Trail.
Bats were swarming all over her living room, she said. How they got there, she didn't know. But she'd gone ahead and sealed up the room and was now in bed with a migraine headache.
Like many people living in older homes in the Albemarle, this woman was discovering something Trail knew: We are not alone.
Hibernating high in the attics, chimneys and rafters of many a historic structure, or huddled within hollowed trees, are dozens of winged mammals that often raise fear and frustration among folks. Thousands of other bats have gone south for the winter.
Bats range in size from the flying foxes, with a 5-foot wingspan, to the hog-nosed bat of Thailand, no larger than a bumblebee. Most local bats have about a footlong wingspan and weigh less than an ounce.
Trail knows some of these creatures well - or at least he's trying to.
A lifelong naturalist and former Cornell University editor and photographer, Trail has made a name for himself since retiring in Edenton, particularly from his weekly column in a Chowan County newspaper.
For the past eight years he also has been helping Raleigh scientists study bats, particularly the eastern big-eared bat believed to be in decline.
``I can't think of any downside about bats,'' Trail, 73, said in the rustic-looking, two-story wooden home he shares with Dorothy, his wife and mother of their four children.
The less informed often regard the world's smallest flying mammal as a nuisance, forcing people to duck for cover as it swarms around pools, barns, trees - or people's homes.
Popular horror films and novels also have convinced folks that these bats are out for blood. In reality, only the vampire species lust for the liquid, and they live in Central and South America.
Such misconceptions are one reason Trail has taken it upon himself to act as the bats' public relations spokesman.
``They get pretty bad press,'' he said. ``And I'm trying to change that. Very few people are still adamantly against bats after I give a talk.''
Bats eat bugs, like mosquitoes and moths, he'll tell an audience at a school or civic club. Moths start out as caterpillars that can cause substantial damage to foliage and crops. Killing them prevents future caterpillars from being hatched.
With all that said, what about the commotion these tiny mammals create when sequestered in a room?
``When they're discovered, there's usually an uproar,'' Trail admitted. ``The bat has to swoop down to pick up speed. And if you're in the middle of the room, you think he's diving into your hair.
``Usually if they get in a house, I just advise people to open a window, and they'll fly out.''
In the case of the Gatesville woman, Trail advised her husband to wait until the bats had left through the chimney they came in. Then he told them to seal the chimney off, but only after the bats had completely fled.
If the waiting game doesn't work after hours or days, ``fold a towel when he lies down and very gently pick him up and release him outside.''
Do not pick up a bat with bare hands. ``They've got sharp little teeth, and they'll bite if you squeeze them.''
Never pick up a bat lying on the ground. It probably is sick or injured and may carry rabies.
And never speak ill of bats around Trail and his wife. They might bite back with stern words about the much-maligned mammals.
Trail's recent work with Mary Kay Clark, curator of mammals for the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, has focused on the elusive eastern big-eared bat, known also as Plecotus rafinesquii.
``It's an odd bat,'' he said. ``Very little is known about it.''
One reason there isn't a lot of information on the shy cavity-dwelling creature is because it is so hard to find, despite its unusual plaited ears that dwarf a tiny mouselike head when fully expanded.
They prefer old swampy forests, such as those around Merchants Millpond State Park near Gatesville, and they'll roost in buildings in a certain state of disrepair. Located throughout the southern United States, colonies can be found around Virginia and North Carolina's Dismal Swamp.
Unlike the more common evening bat and brown bat that frequent active homes, the eastern big-eared bat prefers solitude, which seems to be in increasingly short supply.
``That bat is declining probably because of loss of habitat - roost habitat and foraging habitat,'' Bob Currie of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a recent issue of CoastWatch.
``Most of our bats have had trouble with roost sites because of either disturbance of caves or loss of roost trees.''
The eastern big-eared bat is certainly no exception. Trail and Clark hope to see its name added to the seven bat species (of 48 nationwide) that have been labeled federally threatened or endangered in all or parts of their range.
Currently the eastern big-eared bat is a Category 2 animal, which means its population may be declining. Elevating it to Category 1 would define the bat as nearing extinction.
Scientists learned a lot about the big-eared bat several years ago during an all-night light-tagging research project near the Yeopim River in Chowan County.
Trail, Clark and a half-dozen others waited near an abandoned building to glue a fluorescent material to 27 captured bats before they flew into the evening.
From that experiment, the scientists were able to learn about the bats' flight patterns and roosting behavior, among other things. Trail also discovered another roost in a natural cavity - a hollow tree - not too far away.
``I think I've looked up more hollow trees than anyone in the state of North Carolina,'' he said.
John Gerwin was one of those who aided with the light-tagging experiment. As manager of the Raleigh museum's bird collection, Gerwin is quite familiar with Trail, who has sent Gerwin bird specimens during the past several years.
``He's just a great naturalist all the way around,'' Gerwin said from his Raleigh office. ``I can tell he's really dedicated to just being a part of the outdoors.''
A survey of the eclectic furnishings in the Trails' home supports that observation. Fish and sea mammals sculpted from wooden blocks adorn tabletops, floor space and the yard. A vinyl snake hangs from a den lamp shade.
Lining some of the paneled walls are framed and matted photographs of wildflowers, a hint of Trail's spectacular slide collections that are usually part of his many nature programs.
``He's got the most beautiful slides in the world,'' Gerwin said. ``But he doesn't like to just show the slides. He really enjoys talking about them, too.''
He's also got baskets that he's made out of a white oak tree. And persimmons ripening on the kitchen table, straight from the garden.
The inspiration for his newspaper-published countryman's journal often comes from watching the wildlife outside the large windows in his family room or sun porch. Or from joining in.
``I can go anywhere,'' Trail said, ``and as long as I get access to a little bit of woods, I can spend a whole day there.''
During a recent daytime tour of an abandoned schoolhouse near his home, Paris was on the trail for the eastern big-eared bat. The search turned up one, a male in deep sleep hanging upside down from a rafter.
Some summer evenings Trail hangs out all night here, listening as nurseries of bats flap about and sing in shrill voices.
It gets kind of creepy, he admits. But it also obviously provides plenty of hours of reward for the slender, gray-haired ``batman.''
The study of nature is like that, he said in his gentle voice. ``It's just a matter of observing things.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photographs by PARIS TRAIL
[Color cover photo]
An Eastern Big Eared Bat hangs near the Chowan Golf & Country Club.
Naturalist Paris Trail inspects the interior of a tree trunk for
signs of bat activity at Drummond Point near the Yeotim River in
Chowan County.
An Evening Bat sits on a branch where he rests after being found in
the attic of an Edenton home.
by CNB