Extermination of Bats

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Little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus)
Family:Vespertilionidae

This species roosts in urban areas forming large maternity roosts (Kunz and Anthony 1996).  An extermination of several large roosts could quickly impact the local population but likely have little impact on statewide population as these bats are abundant and widespread (Fitzgerald et al. 1994).  However, public perception of bats and fear of disease has and could lead to the extermination of larger numbers of bats (Tuttle 1987), potentially elevating this risk to a much more critical level.