Bat ladies. You probably didn’t know this was a thing. And while certainly less infamous than their cat counterparts, bat ladies’ passions are actually far more deserving of a spotlight. That’s because teams of women across the United States and Canada are currently working their butts off to save, protect and nurture the habitats of their nocturnal, flying friends.
‘The Invisible Mammal’ Spotlights Bats — and the Women Who Love Them
Dr. Kristin Jonasson, a research scientist with Bat Conservation International, in her natural habitat: deep inside a cave, examining bats. (Kristin Tièche/‘The Invisible Mammal’)
Fortunately, these women’s stories are now documented in a surprisingly moving new film by Kristin Tièche called The Invisible Mammal. In it, Tièche follows the scientists, biologists and rescue volunteers who are dedicating their lives to increasingly endangered bat populations across the nation.
They include Dr. Winifred Frick, the chief scientist of Bat Conservation International who works alongside her husband and (incredibly charming) 10-year-old son Darwin, to gather important bat data. We also meet Frick’s colleagues, Dr. Kristin Jonasson — who thinks nothing of crawling into terrifying, half-flooded caves to give health checks to adorable, sleepy bats — and Dr. Alyson Brokaw, who shares her considerable bat knowledge on TikTok.
Most delightful of all the bat ladies featured is Corky Quirk, the founder of NorCal Bats. Quirk helps to shine a spotlight on the 250,000 Mexican free-tailed bats currently residing underneath the Yolo Causeway in Sacramento. Not only does she lead bat tours of the freeway bridge, she runs her own personal bat rehab and regularly educates local kids about bats and conservation. Watching Quirk scour Sacramento parking lots for bats in trouble is particularly inspiring — especially when the film documents her journey nursing one abandoned baby back to the wild.
“I have a soft spot for the underdog,” Quirk says, “and bats really fill that role.”
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There is a larger point to the film, however — one that is powerfully driven home in the course of its concise 85 minutes. Though most of us pay them little mind, bats are essential to the ecologies they live in. They are pollinators, seed dispersers and highly effective pest-destroyers.
When bat populations drop, the use of insecticides increases, creating hazards for humans and much bigger bills for farmers. As ecological economist Eyal Frank notes in the documentary, a mass bat die-off would be “catastrophic for humanity, for society.”
Unfortunately, as The Invisible Mammal explains, bat populations across the United States have been decimated by a new disease. Since 2006, a fungus known as Pd (full name: pseudogymnoascus destrucans) has attacked bat populations in 40 states and nine Canadian provinces, causing a disease called White Nose Syndrome. Pd grows on hibernating bats, prompting them to wake up too early. These bats then starve to death because of scarce winter food supplies.
The bat ladies are working on solutions to help the imperiled fuzzy mammals, in creative and fairly ingenious ways. They call this project “Operation Fat Bat,” with one scientist noting “We like our bats thick, not sick.” (Yes, the bat ladies are all this awesome.)
The Invisible Mammal does an impressive job of driving home the urgent need to save as many bats as possible, while we still can. But for Bay Area viewers, the film also acts as a pertinent reminder of how close we live to one of California’s largest urban bat colonies. Less famous than their Austin, Texas counterparts, the Sacramento bug munchers are almost as unsung as the women who watch over them. By the end of The Invisible Mammal, you will surely want to pay them a visit — and help them out in any way you can.
‘The Invisible Mammal’ premieres at the Roxie Theater (3117 16th St., San Francisco) on Oct. 26, 2025, as part of International Bat Week. Director Kristin Tièche and Dr. Winifred Frick will appear after the screening for a Q&A moderated by biodiversity expert Peter Brastow.
