The National Museum of Natural History in Mdina recently organised another Malta Bat Night event, aimed at removing the negative impression that people have formed about the much-maligned flying mammals.

As the sun began to set, the sky darkened with the legion of bats which came out of the Rabat catacombs, noted Gavin Gulia in 1890 in his book Elenco dei Mammiferi Maltesi. Certainly, the tendency of these nightly creatures to live in such dreaded underground areas didn’t help them much not to be associated with evil and darkness. Likewise, their strange semblance, their mythical association with Dracula and images of Satan bearing their wings, hindered even more their reputation.

In Aztec and Mayan cultures, bats were deities connected to death. Yet nothing could be further than the truth since bats have a beneficial role in the earth’s ecosystem.

The importance of these unique flying mammals was highlighted during a recent activity which was organised by Mepa’s Environment Division, in collaboration with Heritage Malta, at the National Museum of Natural History in Mdina. This annual event, referred to as Malta Bat Night, included a discussion about bats and experiencing the sounds emitted by these small creatures thanks to an electronic device.

“Malta Bat Night forms part of a partnership with the EU for the research and conservation of bats,” John Joseph Borg, senior curator at the museum, said.

“Such events aim to inform the public about bats in the hope of removing the negative impression that people have about them. Along the years, bats have decreased considerably in Malta, both because their habitat has been disturbed and also due to direct acts of violence which were carried out upon them.”

Indeed, the stories are horrific. Borg explains how colonies of bats have been repeatedly and purposely set on fire while resting in their caves. Others were smothered when vandals threw mud and other things at them, such as in the case of Ħasan Cave. Bats belonging to a small colony which lived on a site that had access to a particular school were burnt alive by schoolchildren after they captured them and drenched them in hot candle wax.

Well, after hearing these stories, it becomes very clear who the evil ones are.

“Unfortunately, our culture has taught us to fear and hate these creatures. In actual fact, their presence could be very advantageous to humans,” the curator said.

Maghrebian bat.

“Many of the bats eat insects and studies have shown that they tend to feed on species that are harmful to humans and to agriculture. Other small bats which have an elongated snout and a long tongue, act as pollinators when they enter into flower tubes to lick the pollen inside and then move onto different plants. Larger bats, which may look spooky and scary, nurture themselves on decaying fruit and, therefore, they keep the fruit trees healthy.”

What about the so-called vampire bats. Were they real? And do we have them in Malta?

“In contrast to peoples’ impression that all bats can suck blood, most of these creatures thrive on insects, fruit, fish and frogs. The only vampire bats which feed on blood are found in South America and they are pretty small. They are nothing similar to the fictional bats that we see in films. In fact, they do not suck blood but they lick it, using their anticogulant saliva which prevents the blood from clotting. They do not normally attack human beings, or even animals. However, they will feed on any animal that is accessable to them, including humans.”

Colonies of bats have been repeatedly and purposely set on fire while resting in their caves

The curator says that we have seven resident species of bats in Malta: the lesser horse-shoe bat, the Maghrebian bat, the grey long-eared bat, Savi’s pipistrelle, Kuhl’s pipistrelle, the common pipistrelle and the soprano pipistrelle.

“We have bats from all these resident species living in this museum,” says Borg, who it is easy to see has an avid passion for the creatures. “In the underground tunnels there are the lesser horse-shoe and the Maghrebian specimen, whereas in the rooms of the underlying level one finds the grey long-eared and more lesser horse-shoe bats. Moreover, all the four species have managed to make a home in some cracks of the façade and on the high beams.”

Lesser horse-shoe bat.

From the remains of moth wings which Borg collects from the museum floor early in the morning for his studies, he is able to identify more information about his resident bats, such as what they prey on. Interestingly, each small bat is able to eat around 20,000 moths each night, thereby being more effective than the insect sprays we use. Nonetheless, most people have no idea about this and when they realise they are cohabitating with bats, all hell breaks loose.

“We do receive calls from people who ask us to remove bats from their properties. It is very rare that these creatures get into homes. Usually, they live in cracks in external windows or in narrow openings in façades. Some of the bats are minute in size and, once people realise that these animals will be doing no harm to them or to their family, they agree to let them stay. Yet, there were cases when the individuals concerned were adamant that they wanted them removed.”

In such cases, Borg or other responsible officials go and survey the bats before taking action. This involves taking note of the bats’ numbers daily for a whole week to confirm the exact amount that are roosting in this place. Once this amount is identified, they wait until all the bats are out at night and then they block the nest not to let them in again. Eventually, the bats automatically move away to a second area, which they tend to have identified beforehand as a secondary home.

“Counting the bats is very important because they do not always leave the nest together. Usually, a scout bat will fly out first to check whether it is windy and whether there are enough insects available in the area. If he returns, the others will stay inside. But if he does not, they will understand that the situation is favourable and they will fly out too.”

I couldn’t help feeling impressed by these creatures. Yet more was to come.

“The courting and copulation of bats takes place in autumn, between October and November. Then, as soon as the temperature drops and insects are more rare, they will fall in a state of torpidityor a short period of sleep. Once the tempertaure gets warmer and insects become available the bats wake up and the real pregnancy kicks off. In this way, both the mother and the offspring have a better chance to survive.”

Savi’s pipistrelle.

Although there are some who associate bats with flying mice, Borg says there is nothing common between the two.

“The oldest bat fossils date back to 55 million years ago where this mammal had already taken the shape we know today. On the other hand, the oldest fossils which were found in Malta go back to the Ice Age at around 200,000 and 10,000 years ago. These were found during excavations at Għar Dalam and so we can say that these ancient bats remember the dwarf elephants and hippopotami roaming around. At this museum, we do hold a sample of these fossils. However, the majority of them were taken by foreign researchers who were doing the excavations and these passed on their discoveries to their respective museums.”

In the Mdina museum, one can also find some current bat specimens. Borg says that the museum will not capture and kill creatures to preserve them, so one won’t find a specimen for each species which live in Malta.

Borg’s own interest in bats dates back to the 1980s. Originally fearful of them, he came face to face with these creatures while he was studying birds and these nightly creatures were being captured accidentally in nets. At first nervous, he asked others to remove them for him, until one day he decided to do the job himself.

From then on he was completely captivated by bats and has been studying them ever since, eager to share his knowledge in the hope of fostering more interest from the public.

It is safe to say that Malta Bat Night has certainly gone a long way towards achieving this.