(WFRV) – Officials with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are encouraging residents to help bats during International Bat Week and to learn at an educational bat event statewide.
International Bat Week falls on October 24 through October 31, conveniently with Halloween, of course. The DNR says that bats are critical members of nature, providing significant benefits to the environment, economy and public health.
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Bug-eating bats eat agricultural pests that help farmers and forest owners save money annually, and in Wisconsin, there are eight species of bats, four of which are state-threatened:
- Big brown bat
- Little brown bat
- Northern long-eared bat (federally endangered)
- Tricolored bat
The silver-haired bat is also of concern due to its declining population, as officials urge conservation actions to keep the creature around.
Officials with the DNR say that white-nose syndrome, caused by a fungus attacking bare bat skin during hibernation, is the main cause of bat populations declining statewide. The disease steals from their stored energy, leaving them susceptible to starvation.
Recent bat surveys since 2014 show that little brown bats are somewhat rebounding at various hibernation sites statewide. The steep declines had been since 2014 when white-nose syndrome first reportedly arrived in the state.
According to a DNR conservation biologist and bat program hibernacula specialist, many of these sites offer ideal conditions for little brown bats and were known to hold large numbers before white-nose syndrome arrived in the state.
“Most of those sites are former mines, and despite being relics of industry, it’s important that we recognize them as habitat critical to a significant proportion of the nation’s little brown bats,” DNR conservation biologist Jennifer Redell said. “The sites need entrance stabilization and maintenance to remain accessible for these huge bat populations for generations to come.”
However, the recent population recovery doesn’t diminish the need for action, as there is a long way to go for bat populations to continue to recover and not decline.
The DNR is promoting 46 educational bat events across 29 different counties, with more expected announcements throughout the month. Click here to see some of the available events.
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The DNR also provided the following tips to help backyard bats, as well as some volunteering opportunities to help the population:
- Backyard bat tips
- Build and put up your own bat house
- Planting native plants is key to a healthy ecosystem
- Keep your yard herbicide/insecticide-free as it harms bat diets
- Exclude them from indoors
- Volunteering availability
- Become a Wisconsin Bat Program volunteer
- Sign up for email updates about bats.
- Donate to the Endangered Resources Fund to support endangered/threatened species.
Click here to learn more.
