Appalachian Bat Count
Count Bats For Conservation
Now's your chance to be the most creative host in your neighborhood – host a bat count this summer! Two of Pennsylvania's bat species commonly use buildings as their summer roosts. Abandoned houses, barns, church steeples – and even currently-occupied structures – can provide a summer home to female bats and their young. Monitoring these "maternity colonies" can give biologists a good idea of how bat populations in an area are doing from year to year. With the occurrence of White Nose Syndrome in Pennsylvania this year, monitoring these colonies is more important than ever.
PLEASE JOIN US in monitoring the health of Pennsylvania's summer bat colonies through the Appalachian Bat Count. Colonies can be monitored by conducting a "bat count" at a summer colony in your area. We ask that you count bats as they exit their summer roost at dusk in June, then again later in the summer to see how the colony has grown as pups begin flying. The attached documents provide all of the information you need to get started. So please, grab a friend or two and go batty this summer for conservation.
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Instructions on how and when to conduct a 'bat count' once you locate a summer bat colony. These data sheets should be filled out and returned to the address below.
Appalachian Bat Count Protocol and Survey Forms (PDF)
Please complete ALL forms and submit to:
Appalachian Bat Count
c/o Bureau of Wildlife Management
PA Game Commission
2001 Elmerton Avenue
Harrisburg, PA 17110-9797
