Florida bonneted bat (Eumops floridanus): Feeding Activity and Bright Stadium Lights

The Florida bonneted bat (Eumops floridanus) is an endangered species found only in southern Florida. There is little ecological information known for this species, making conservation work difficult in protecting it. What we do know, however, is that they are large, insectivorous, high-flying mammals that can travel over vast distances in a single night. With these characteristics it made me wonder if E. floridanus would find baseball stadiums an acceptable hunting ground. They have wide-open spaces, the bright stadium lights attract insects, and the field lights themselves are hundreds of feet high. To test if this is true, I set up ultrasonic recording equipment at Roger Dean Stadium (and two other baseball fields with differing environmental factors) to see if there is a difference in activity between nights when the lights are on or off. With this information about E. floridanus feeding habits, current conservation practices could be improved upon.