The Invisible Mammal

The Invisible Mammal is an upcoming co-production between Wild Lens Collective and Kristin Tieche, one of our talented filmmaker members. We sat down with Kristin to discuss this exciting film project and the impact it could have for declining bat populations.

© Adrienne Johnson

What is the film about?

The Invisible Mammal is a film about bats! There are about 1,400 species of bat in the world and they are so misunderstood. As pollinators, seed dispersers and insect eaters, bats are crucial to our shared ecosystem. Since 2006, about seven million bats have died in North America due to a fungal disease called white-nose syndrome, in addition to the stressors caused by climate change and habitat loss. The Invisible Mammal tells the story of the scientists, educators, rescuers and farmers trying to protect bats from threats to their survival before it’s too late.

Why are bats in trouble and what is going on to help?

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is caused by a fungus that attacks certain species of bats while they’re hibernating. The fungus is irritating and wakes the infected bats up before the end of hibernation and, because their food source is not available during the winter, they typically starve to death. The disease can wipe out an entire bat colony during one winter. The bats that succumb to WNS are hibernating, bug-eating bats, and the disease has reduced some species’ populations so drastically that they now face complete collapse. For example, the little brown bat has seen a 90% decline in population, while the tricolored and northern long-eared bat populations have declined by 97%. It would take generations for certain species to recover, if at all.

The disease has spread rapidly throughout the USA and Canada. The fungus that causes WNS has been detected in 33 states and 7 provinces, as far south as Texas and as far west as California. The loss of bug-eating bats could be devastating for agriculture as they save farmers billions of dollars a year as a natural form of pesticide.

Who is featured in the film?

I’ve been fortunate to gain access to some wildlife biologists and educators who are doing some incredible work with bats. We were invited by Bat Conservation International’s chief scientist, Dr. Winifred Frick, to film the study that she and her team are conducting in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. They are using UV lights to attract bugs, creating a “bug buffet” to fatten bats up before hibernation, so they have enough reserves if the fungus wakes them up early. If their study is successful, it could be replicated wherever WNS threatens bats.

© Jillian Betterly

We also filmed at the largest known bat colony in the world, Bracken Cave, just outside of San Antonio, Texas, home to 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats. These bats do not hibernate, but

they migrate and share caves with species that do hibernate. Because they are the most common bat species in North America, they could carry the fungus to other habitats. The property where Bracken Cave is located is protected by Bat Conservation International.

© Melyssa Mendoza

We also filmed in Austin, Texas at Congress Avenue Bridge, where we met the one-and-only Merlin Tuttle and spent the evening filming/photographing bats with him.

© Melyssa Mendoza

© Melyssa Mendoza

Finally, closer to my home, we filmed in Yolo County, California. Corky Quirk is a bat rescuer and educator. She leads tours at the Yolo Causeway, a freeway overpass that is home to an estimated 250,000 Mexican free-tailed bats. The rice fields next to the freeway

benefit from the free ecosystem services that bats provide: eating up all the moths that could destroy the crops.

© Adrienne Johnson

We have a few more locations where we’d like to film, but haven’t yet, including upstate NY, which is ground zero for WNS. Everyone can stay tuned to The Invisible Mammal Facebook page and the Wild Lens Instagram and Twitter feeds to stay up to date on our travels.

Who is involved in the making of the film? How is Wild Lens playing a role?

I’ve been following this story since 2009 and started filming bats in 2014. I made a short film that toured film festivals. Audiences loved the film and I knew I had to continue. With the support of Wild Lens, I decided it was time to embark on a feature. Wild Lens is the

film’s fiscal sponsor and also provides production support, mentoring, equipment loans, and more. I’ve started fundraising so we can film on location across the United States. We were able to hire the amazing cinematographer Skip Hobbie to film stunning footage of the bats as they emerge at sunset at Bracken Cave in Texas and hope to continue collaborating with him and other talented documentary professionals.

© Melyssa Mendoza

What stage are you currently at with filming?

So far we have filmed in California, Texas and Michigan, and plan to travel to New York and Kentucky. We will need to return to all of these locations to follow the stories as they evolve. We are at the very beginning of the filmmaking process and need to secure grant funding and other forms of investment in order to complete the film. We are hoping for festival release in 2021 or 2022.

What impact are you hoping the film will have?

When audiences see bats on the big screen, and learn about what incredible little creatures they are, their hearts and minds transform. We hope this film shifts people’s attitudes about bats from fear to admiration. We are partnering with Bat Conservation International to create a call to action about bat conservation across the continent. We’d love for viewers to become more aware about how they can avoid disturbing bats while visiting their habitats, and what precautions they can take to avoid spreading the fungus that causes white nose syndrome. Most of all, we want viewers to become bat advocates in their communities, and walk away with an appreciation for their many contributions to our shared ecosystem. Where would we be without our friends, the bats?

Like the sounds of The Invisible Mammal? You can help support this project by making a donation on our Go Fund Me page. Any donations, no matter how big or small, will help us bring this project to life and bring these often overshadowed and misunderstood animals into the spotlight.