Delaware Bat Count 2009 gets set to take wing

Seen any bats lately? More important, seen many bats lately? If so, your sightings could be beneficial to the environment and play a key part in Delaware Bat Count 2009. The Delaware Division of Fish & Wildlife is looking for volunteers to help locate bat roosts and count the bats as they exit their day-time time hangouts.

You might find a bat colony in a barn, attic, tree, bat box or under a bridge—anywhere a group of bats “hang out.” “Getting a count of their numbers is a fun way to connect with nature while doing something helpful for wildlife,” F&W biologist Holly Niederriter said.

In Delaware, bats feed nocturnally on insects, many of which are pest species like mosquitoes. Some bats also eat moths and beetles that damage our crops. “The bats are providing us with a valuable and free service, so it’s to our great benefit to have them around,” Niederriter said.

And having bats around—and knowing how many bats Delaware has around—is of great importance at this time, because bat populations are in serious trouble due to a new disease called White-nose Syndrome (WNS). WNS has killed off bats in large numbers, causing as much as 100 percent bat mortality at some winter hibernation sites in other states.

WNS is characterized by a white fungus on the face, wings and tails of bats while they’re in cold, winter hibernation locations. “In winter, the sick bats often awaken, leave the caves and starve,” Niederriter said. “Delaware doesn’t have caves or mines for hibernating bats so we haven’t seen the large numbers of dead bats other states have reported.

“We do not know if any of Delaware’s bats have the disease but, since many of our bats migrate in from other states, our populations are likely to be impacted. We don’t know if or how it affects summering bat colonies yet,” she said.

The Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife is working closely with other states’ biologists to monitor the effects of this horrible disease and the public can be of big help, too, by taking part in Delaware Bat Count 2009. To find out more about the bat count and to volunteer for it, and to learn more about White-nose Syndrome, go to http://www.fw.delaware.gov/bats/ .