And the winner is … William ShakespEAR, a beautiful bat from Butte Falls
Published 1:30 pm Wednesday, November 1, 2023
- This little gal, dubbed William ShakespEAR, won the 2023 Bat Beauty Contest conducted by the Bureau of Land Management. William's photo was taken by Emma Busk, a BLM wildlife biologist, as William hung out in a cave near Butte Falls. The agency uses the contest to educate people about bats, which are pollinators and voracious consumers of insects.
It turns out that he’s a she, but in any case, William ShakespEAR, a Townsend’s big-eared bat from Butte Falls, is a winner.
She won a nationwide bat beauty contest sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, according to an agency announcement on Tuesday. The BLM had previously stated in a contest promotion that William was a male.
“William is actually a female!” said Emma Busk, a BLM wildlife biologist.
It was Busk who took a picture of William hanging out in a cave near Butte Falls and then entered the photo in BLM’s annual contest, which concluded on Halloween. Busk had been at the cave monitoring a maternity colony of Townsend’s big-eared bats.
“Townsend’s big-eared bats form maternity colonies in the spring before they have their pups,” Busk said. “They need open space where they can roost in caves.
The BLM uses the contest to raise awareness about bats, which can eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes in an hour. They also eat beetles and moths. They are pollinators, as well.
The agency encourages people to avoid exploring mines and caves from now until early spring, when bats might be hibernating during colder months.
“Not disturbing bats when they’re hibernating is really important and will help keep Townsend’s big-eared bats healthy and thriving,” Busk said.
Townsend’s big-eared bats, which can be found throughout Oregon and Washington, are declining in number, prompting them to be named an Oregon Conservation Strategy Species.
Anyone who wants to attract bats may want to construct a bat house, which protects bats in the winter. People may also want to plant native flowers, which attract insects. In addition, people are advised to turn off unnecessary lights.
“Light pollution is not great for bats,” Busk said.
William’s win is the second time in two years that first place went to a bat from the BLM’s Oregon-Washington area. This year, there were eight entrants, or more specifically, eight photographs of contestants, each from a different state or region. Winners were chosen by popular vote cast online to BLM’s social media pages.
