Researchers make disturbing discovery about structures meant to help animals: 'Could function as death-traps'

Bat boxes originally meant to keep the small mammals warm during the winter months could just as easily become their deathbeds during the summer.

Researchers from the University of New England did a study into the effects of overheating on animals that couldn't escape the heat of the day — namely, big brown bats.

What's happening?

As bats are nocturnal creatures, they sleep during the daytime, which can lead to fatal effects if they spend their days snoozing in bat boxes meant to keep the heat in.

Should bat boxes be positioned in a way to conduct enough heat, the bats roosting inside would die in their sleep of dehydration and heat stroke, thus rendering the boxes more harmful than helpful.

Per Phys.org, "the team gently collected 22 bats from the surrounding woods and forests and measured the amount of carbon dioxide exhaled by the animals — allowing them to calculate the animals' metabolic rates — and the amount of water that the bats lost from their bodies by evaporation."

Additionally, they recorded temperatures within four different bat boxes facing different directions in different locations relative to the amount of sunlight they would receive.

The findings were crucial to understanding how bat boxes should be made to fully benefit the bats in all seasons, not just during cold months.

While the comparisons of temperatures during 2023 were livable, comparisons during hotter years like 2021 proved to be fatal, with the bats losing "more than 50% of their body mass" in the proposed hypothetical.

Essentially, "inappropriately placed artificial [bat] roosts could function as death-traps."

Why is this important?

Inventions like bat boxes are created with good intent and are incredibly helpful to bats during times when they need to stay warm and insulated.

What's your least favorite thing about summer heat waves? Higher AC bills 💸 Getting sweaty outside 😰 It's harder to walk or exercise 🥵 Something else 🤷 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

However, the discovery of a potential fatal flaw is an important demonstration of why human intervention in the environment must be monitored and upgraded consistently as new research comes out.

What's being done about this?

Per the study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, "conservation management of small nocturnal endotherms should incorporate both physiological data and roost microclimate data when designing and deploying artificial roosts."

In other words, bat boxes should not only be made with standard insulation, but also account for changing temperatures in different climates.

Lead researcher Ruvinda de Mel suggested that some boxes be made to maintain a single temperature via insulation, while others be made to fluctuate with the different seasons, said Phys.org. Additionally, he added that location matters, as some boxes could be placed in full sun and some in full shade to provide options for the bats to roost.

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