PENDLETON, Ore. - Oregon bats are feeling the stress of fighting to survive, wildlife experts warned recently. And while most of us may only be batty about bats as Halloween decorations, without bats our world could get a lot gloomier.

Disease and habitat loss are threatening bat survival, with eight of Oregon's 15 bats species in need of help, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's conservation strategy. Five of the eight live throughout Oregon, while the other three species facing difficulties primarily live in eastern Oregon.

And the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has classified one species, the Townsend's big-eared bat, found statewide, as sensitive, meaning it could decline to the point it is threatened or endangered.

Burr Betts, a retired Eastern Oregon University biology professor and considered a bat expert of Cove, Ore., said bats, the world's only flying mammal, aren't creepy or scary and make for healthier forests and humans.

"Bats are the insect eaters of the night, like birds are the insect eaters of the daytime," he said. "These things eat a lot of bugs in the night."

According to ODFW, Oregon's bats eat only insects. Betts said bats eat as much as half their body weight a night in insects.

Most bats in eastern Oregon are small, he said, weighing just half an ounce, so half of that doesn't seem like much.

"But something as small as mosquitoes, that's 400 or 500 pretty quickly," Betts said.

Mosquitoes spread disease, such as West Nile Virus. Bats also dine on bark beetles and gypsy moths, Betts said, insects that damage and destroy forests.

Some adult bats, according to ODFW, can devour 1,000 insects every hour.

Betts said bats in eastern Oregon are facing loss of habitat from fewer old houses, buildings and old open mines. And forest dwelling bats that make homes in "snags" - dead or dying trees - also are feeling strain. Betts said loggers cut down snags because they can be a danger, and people target snags for firewood. That happens in spite of regulations that protect a certain number of snags for forest ecosystems, he said.

If bat populations decline, Betts said he would expect to see increases in unhealthy forests.

Meg Kenagy is the ODFW conservation communications coordinator. The state doesn't have a bead on just how many bats live in Oregon, and no bats in the state are on the threatened or endangered list. And ODFW wants to keep it that way. Priority No. 1, she said, is for people to leave hibernating bats alone.

Oregon's bats hibernate in caves, mines, buildings or hollow trees. If disturbed, they are forced to burn calories, reducing their chance of survival.

Kenagy said people can build bat houses to give them new places to live.

Wildlife experts also want to keep the deadly white-nose syndrome from landing on Oregon bat populations.

White-nose syndrome has killed more than a million bats in the northeastern United States, according to ODFW. A fungus that thrives in the same cold temperature range as hibernating bats causes a white fuzzy growth on their noses and wings. Though the cause of death is still unclear, scientists speculate the fungus interrupts sleep patterns and causes the hibernating bats to awaken, depleting their fat reserves and causing starvation, according to ODFW.

Wildlife officials don't think white-nose syndrome is in Oregon, Kenagy said, but they see it as a threat. To help stop white-nose syndrome from spreading, biologists and land managers want Oregon residents, especially those who work in or explore caves and mines, to avoid disturbing bats and to decontaminate clothing and gear before and after entering a cave.

Kenagy also countered a pair of popular misconceptions about bats. They won't roost in people's hair, she said, and they are not riddled with rabies. Less than 1 percent of bats have rabies, she said.

Even so, she said, they are wild animals and no one should pick up or touch bats.