Division of Fish & Wildlife offers training in Smyrna May 19 for annual Bat Count

DOVER – Have you seen any bats lately in Delaware and wondered how the nine bat species found here are faring in troubling times for bats in North America? If so, DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife offers an opportunity for you to step up to the plate on the bats’ behalf and participate in the annual Delaware Bat Count. Training for “bat spotting” will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, May 19 at DNREC’s Aquatic Resources Education Center (AREC), located at 2520 Lighthouse Road, Smyrna, DE 19977.

Since 2009, DNREC has been monitoring the state’s bat populations and working with the public to limit the spread of White Nose Syndrome (WNS), a devastating fungal disease that has killed millions of bats across the continent. The Bat Count helps provide information for DNREC biologists studying bat populations in the state and insights into the impacts that WNS is having on them. Several bat species, including some that inhabit Delaware, have suffered as much as 100 percent bat mortality from WNS at winter hibernation sites in some states, prompting the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to list one species, the northern long-eared bat, as federally threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2015. Due to population declines, the northern long-eared and little brown bats also were added to Delaware’s list of endangered species in 2014.

Bats are important to Delaware’s ecology, feeding on millions of insects, including mosquitoes, beetles, moths and agricultural pests, helping ward off potential threats to public health and the food supply. A study in Science magazine noted that bats are among the most economically valuable wildlife to farmers, saving them nationwide at least $3.7 billion annually by reducing the amount of pesticides needed.

DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife is seeking volunteers to help locate bat roosts and count bats exiting their daytime resting areas, with data from the Bat Count providing scientific information such as bat numbers and distribution of bat species found in Delaware. After training, volunteers will adopt a known bat colony and commit to counting the number of bats within their adopted colony at least twice this summer. An RSVP to attend the training is requested by emailing katelyn.rembecki@delaware.gov or calling 302-735-8674.

Media contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.

Vol. 47, No. 106

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DOVER – Delaware is home to nine species of bats, several of which have begun their annual move from winter hibernation sites to summer maternity colonies. Female bats return to their colonies pregnant and congregate to give birth and raise their pups. In Delaware, these colonies can often take up residence in barns, garages, attics and homes.

Even though bats play an important role in our ecosystem, DNREC notes that they are often unwanted visitors to residents’ homes and outbuildings. If bats are roosting in such a location where they are not welcome, you can help divert them to a more hospitable roosting spot by installation of a bat exclusion.

DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife notes that in the spring, it is crucial that bat exclusions be completed before May 15 – to prevent trapping flightless newborn bats inside buildings and permanently separating mothers from their pups, which cannot survive on their own.

For a list of Division of Fish & Wildlife-permitted wildlife control operators who can install bat exclusions, use the Wildlife Control Operators search tool. To review best management practices for excluding bats, visit the Bat Program webpage for information on “Bats in Buildings.”

Bats feed at night on insects, including many pest species such as mosquitoes, as well as moths and beetles that damage crops. A study published in Science magazine suggests that bats could be one of the most economically-valuable groups of wildlife to North American farmers, saving farmers at least $3.7 billion annually by reducing the amount of pesticides needed.

“Bats provide us with a valuable and free service, so it’s to our great benefit to have them around,” said Wildlife Biologist Holly Niederriter of DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife.

Media Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

DOVER (Aug. 19, 2016) – DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife has been awarded a federal grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to support Delaware’s ongoing research and monitoring and response to White-nose Syndrome (WNS), a disease that causes mortality in bats and has taken a severe toll on hibernating North American bat species since it was discovered almost 10 years ago. 

Characterized by a white fungus visible on a bat’s nose, wings, tail and ears, WNS is transmitted primarily by contact between bats and since first discovered in New York in the winter of 2006-2007, has spread at an alarming rate and is now confirmed in 29 states and five Canadian provinces. According to the USFWS, while the disease is not known to impact human, pet or livestock health, WNS has caused the death of 5.7 to 6.7 million bats in North America. In Delaware, WNS related deaths were first confirmed in 2012 among bats hibernating in Fort Delaware and Fort DuPont in New Castle County.

The 2016 grant marks the seventh year that DNREC has received funding from the USFWS’s Endangered Species Recovery and Science Applications program to help fight the disease, with this year’s funding totaling $22,693.

“Bats are important to Delaware’s ecology, feeding on millions of insects, including mosquitoes, beetles, moths and agricultural pests, and in so doing, also helping us ward off potential threats to public health and the food supply,” said DNREC Secretary David Small. “Now we are trying to reciprocate with our concern over the bats’ health by working to help bats recover from WNS. Since 2009, DNREC has been monitoring the state’s bat populations and working with the public to limit the spread of WNS. Thanks to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service funding, we can continue strengthening our response to this disease that has been devastating to North American bats.”

Only bat species that hibernate are known to be affected by WNS, including such species as the little brown, big brown, tri-colored, northern long-eared and eastern small-footed bats – all found in Delaware. The northern long-eared and little brown bats are among the most severely impacted by WNS. Because of these bats’ dramatic population declines, the northern long-eared and little brown bats were added to Delaware’s list of endangered species in 2014, and the northern long-eared bat was listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in May 2015.

“The cave-like conditions at Fort Delaware provide ideal temperature and humidity levels for bats to hibernate and for the fungus that causes WNS to survive,” said DNREC Biologist Holly Niederriter, who heads the Division of Fish & Wildlife’s bat monitoring efforts. ”WNS continues to be a threat to bats that hibernate there. Our winter surveys at the Fort have shown a steady decline in bat numbers, with 40 percent fewer bats counted in 2015 compared to 2013.”

Hundreds of locations within Fort Delaware have been tested for the presence of the fungus that causes WNS, and potential methods for reducing the amount of fungus there have been evaluated. The microscopic spores of WNS can easily hitch a ride on shoes, clothing, cameras and backpacks, which led biologists to develop a plan in 2012 that prevents Fort Delaware visitors from inadvertently spreading the fungus from the Fort to unaffected areas. In addition, these grant funds were used to produce interpretive signs and an interactive kiosk to show Fort visitors the importance of bats and how to protect them.

 “This USFWS grant provides much needed funds that will be used to collect data that will help us determine how to best protect Delaware’s bat species from WNS and implement strategies that will decrease the chances of spreading the disease to other bat sites,” Niederriter said. “We’ll also be using the funding to continue our efforts to educate visitors at Fort Delaware about bats and WNS.”

Delaware’s grant was part of almost $1 million in funding for natural resource agencies in 34 states and the District of Columbia that were announced by USFWS Northeast Regional Director Wendi Weber. “A state’s response to white-nose syndrome depends on how long the disease has been there or how close they are to known occurrences,” said Weber, who is also co-chair of the WNS Executive Committee. “Where it has been established, the focus is on increasing survival of bats. On the leading edge of the disease front, it’s also on limiting the spread, and where the disease has not been discovered, it’s on preventing the arrival of WNS. With this funding, we’re happy to help the states on all fronts to defeat this deadly disease.”

The Division of Fish and Wildlife is continuing its volunteer bat count project to search for bat colonies, monitor bats for signs of WNS and assess possible changes in bat populations. Delaware residents are encouraged to contact Holly Niederriter, DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife at 302-735-8651 for more information.

For more information on bats in Delaware, please visit http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/fw/bats. To report a bat colony or unusual bat behavior, please call 302-735-8651.

DOVER (April 19, 2013) – Delaware is home to eight species of bats, several of which have begun their annual move from winter hibernation sites to summer maternity colonies. Female bats return pregnant to the colonies where they congregate to give birth and raise their pups. In Delaware, these colonies can often take up residence in barns, garages, attics and homes.  

In Delaware, bats feed at night on insects, many of which are pest species like mosquitoes. Some eat moths and beetles that damage our crops. “They’re providing us with a valuable and free service, so it’s to our benefit to have them around,” said Wildlife Biologist Holly Niederriter of DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife.

A study published in Science magazine’s Policy Forum suggests that bats could be one of the most economically-valuable groups of wildlife to North American farmers, saving farmers at least $3.7 million annually by reducing the amount of pesticides needed.

Even though bats play an important role in our ecosystem, they are often unwanted visitors inside homes, garages and other outbuildings. If you, or a friend or neighbor, has bats roosting in an undesirable location, excluding bats from the building may be warranted.

For a list of permitted nuisance wildlife control operators that can conduct bat exclusions and to review best management practices for excluding bats, as well as more information on the Delaware Bat Program, please visit www.dnrec.delaware.gov/fw/bats/. The Delaware Bat program is also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DelawareFishWildlife.

In the spring, it is crucial that bat exclusions be completed before May 15, when female bats typically settle into their colony sites and begin giving birth. If done after that date, flightless young may be trapped inside buildings and permanently separated from their mothers, without whom they cannot survive.

If you know of non-nuisance bat colonies, DNREC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife biologists are seeking volunteer bat spotters to help in locating and counting the state’s bat colonies. The Delaware Bat Count is a statewide research study of bat populations, breeding activity and the overall health of the bats that inhabit our state. The bat program is always looking for reports of new bat colonies.

To report a bat colony, or for more information on volunteering as a bat spotter, or on bat exclusions, please contact Holly Niederriter or Sarah Brownlee-Bouboulis, at 302-735-8674, or by email at  sarah.brownlee@delaware.gov.

Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902 

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