Division of Fish & Wildlife

The Division of Fish & Wildlife is putting out an "APBB" - an all-points bat bulletin! Delawareans are asked be on the lookout for bats this summer by taking part in Delaware Bat Count 2009. The first bat count will give biologists baseline bat data to help determine how the state's bats are faring in the wake of White-nose Syndrome (WNS), a disease that is hitting bat populations in nearby states.

As a volunteer bat-counter, you will be looking for bats in the places they are most likely to use as summer roosts: houses, attics, barns, church steeples, bat houses and bridge underhangs. Although WNS has not yet been documented in Delaware, many of the state's bats come from places where the disease has been found and could have carried it here. Biologists can use the information gathered by volunteers to learn more about WNS, its mode of spreading and its effects on non-hibernating bats.

As a bat-counter in Delaware Bat Count 2009, your survey results will be used to:

• Identify and evaluate the approximate size of bat maternity roosts by counting bats as they emerge from roost site.
• Evaluate differences between bat pup pre-flight and post-flight counts using more extensive count surveys at some locations (using this year's and next year's data).

The survey's goals are to:

• Gather baseline information on summer colonies
• Evaluate the impact of WNS on summer colonies
• Determine if WNS contagions persist and can be transmitted in summer roosts; and correlate long term trends with the spread of WNS. 

If you are interested in joining Delaware Bat Count 2009, please read the Welcome, New Volunteer Letter.

Please call Holly Niederriter or Kesha Braunskill at 302-653-2880 if you have additional questions or concerns.

Bat Count Information

• Welcome, New Volunteer Letter
  
  
• Bat Emergence Count Data Form
  
  
• Bat Site Landowner Data Form
  
  
• Bat Surveyor Data Form
  
  
• Volunteer Bat Count Protocol
  
  
• Match documentation form