Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends A Landscape of Remembrance and Reflection | Page 6

Bats of
Mount Auburn
By Regina Harrison
Executive Assistant & Sales Coordinator
Author’s Note: As you may be aware, bats are one of
the types of animals potentially linked to the jump
of the SARS-COV-2 virus from wildlife to people
that began in Wuhan province, China. It is true
that some bat species, particularly the Rhinolophid
(Horseshoe) bats found in China, are ready carriers of
SARS-type viruses. There is no conclusive evidence,
however, for any specific type of animal as the source
of COVID-19. When COVID-19 was transmitted
from an animal to a human, it would have been under
conditions of extremely close and/or direct contact
with the animal’s bodily fluids under unsanitary
conditions, presumably in a wildlife market. There
is no reason to suspect that Mount Auburn’s bat
species could be carriers of COVID-19, and even if
they were, contagion is easily avoided simply by not
handling them. Bats around the world are generally
in more danger from us than we are from them. For
more information on bats and COVID-19, visit Bat
Conservation International at http://www.batcon.org/.
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Two Creative Commons Hoary Bat photos:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lasiurus_cinereus_Portrait.jpg
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stuartwildlife/6223243823/in/photostream/
Source of bat information: https://www.mass.gov/service-details/bats-of-massachusetts