Bat colony in northwest Cedar Rapids flood house get reprieve

A colony of bats in danger of being destroyed along with the house where they roost in northwest Cedar Rapids has received a reprieve.

The abandoned, flood-damaged house at 1422 1st Street NW was scheduled to be demolished this week, but John Riggs, assistant manager of Cedar Rapids Code Enforcement, said plans are on hold until the bats relocate.

The colony contains several several small young brown bats that are too young to fly on their own and would not survive any demolition work.

Waiting is the best strategy to ensure the safety of those younger bats, according to Indian Creek Nature Center Director Rich Patterson,

“I would think they're getting to the independent stage by now,” Patterson said. “They either have or very soon will be migrating.”

Local bat lover Nathan Krejci still is concerned that some bats might get trapped in the demolition, and would like to see bat excluders installed over the entrances to the house to allow the bats to leave the roost, but not return.

“An excluder can be as simple as poly-ethelyne bird netting and some duct tape over the windows,” said Krejci. “The bat lands on the netting and can't get inside.”

Krejci believes the 1st Street house is one of many flood-damaged homes in Cedar Rapids that have become attractive sites for matriarchal bat colonies to raise their young during the summer months. He is worried that if alternate shelter isn't provided, the bats will move on to other occupied homes when they lose their current roosts.

“I'm trying to work with the city to get a bat house program working, so when the houses are demolished they have a place to go rather than into another flood house or an occupied house,” Krejci said.

Bats are in more danger than ever across the country due to the outbreak of a fungal infection called White Nose Syndrome that has devastated bat populations in the Northeast United States.

Patterson witnessed the decimation first-hand during a recent trip to visit family in New Jersey.

“The bats are all gone,” Patterson said. “There are virtually none anymore.”

Although there have been no recorded cases in Iowa, Patterson said it is only a matter of time before the disease reaches local populations.

The Iowa State Department of Natural Resources recently closed the caves at Maquoketa Caves State Park in order to pre-emptively prevent transmission of the disease to the bats there.