This article is the second part in a series about bats. For part one click here.

Many of the 10 species of bats found in Maryland are in serious danger as a result of a fungus, commonly called white nose disease, and thought to affect bats exclusively. This may be because so many of our native bats are year-round residents—roosting in caves, trees, under bridges or other structures during the summer and hibernating in caves or old mines during the winter.

While some bat species are solitary, many live or hibernate in large colonies, which are at the greatest risk of white nose disease.

The condition causes affected bats to awaken during hibernation; once awake, the bat must find food. Since all of Maryland's bats species are insectivores, bats roused from hibernation will generally starve.  

All of the roughly 1,100 species of bats belong to the order Chiroptera, which appropriately means "hand-wing." Bats are the only mammals alive today that truly fly. Their wings are made up of thin layers of membrane stretched between their fingers and arms as well as their toes, legs and tail. 

Their flight may appear erratic when watching one on a warm summer's evening flying around a street light, but they are actually highly specialized and skilled navigators. 

Bats are not blind. They generally see about as well as humans, and some fruit-eating bats, found in more tropical regions of the world, are thought to see in full color and in low light about as well as a cat.

But what really allows bats, particularly insect-eating bats like those in Maryland, to fly at night and navigate safely in search of food, is a highly sophisticated echolocation systems.

As warm-blooded mammals, bats are susceptible to rabies. This does not mean they carry rabies or are any more likely to have the disease than any other warm-blooded animal. Less than half of 1 percent of all bats will contract rabies. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), of bats found on the ground, weak or obviously sick brought to labs for testing, only about 6 percent tested positive for rabies.

Between 1997 and 2006, 14 people are thought to have contracted rabies due to bites from bats, according to the CDC. To give that a little perspective, you are far more likely to be hurt or even killed in a household accident than to contract rabies from a bat. Bicycle-related accidents account for more than 600,000 emergency room visits and 824 human deaths each year. 

So, while bats do not seek to entangle themselves in women's hair, nor are they companions to witches or vampires, they are wild creatures and when vulnerable, will bite. For this reason, it's highly recommend that no one handle a bat with bare hands. If you happen to find one of these winged wonders, please contact a bat rehabilitation center for help. 

Now that we have dispelled some of the myths surrounding bats, we can take a closer look next week at how to attract them and help to keep them safe—their insect-eating, pollinating and seed-distributing ways can be beneficial.