Photo Credit: BC Community Bat Program

By Sam Bennison

Wildlife

BC Annual Bat Count begins June 1

May 6, 2024 | 12:56 PM

PRINCE GEORGE— Are you a little batty? Then this volunteer opportunity is perfect for you as the BC Community Bat Program is calling on volunteers to take part in the annual BC Bat Count.

Bats are key predators to many night-flying insects including mosquitos, and black flys. They are an essentials component to B.C.’s ecosystem with the BC Community Bat Program adding that the provide billions of dollars in economic benefits by helping control agricultural,forest, and urban pests.

Beginning June 1, Bat biologist, with your help, will set up outside bat maternity roost at sunset and for an hour, count bats.

“Female bats roost together in summer and raise their young in maternity colonies,” says Tina Watters, Omineca coordinator for the BC Community Bat Program. “They generally only have one pup per female in June.”

“The data collected is really important as it helps us know how the bat populations aredoing in BC,” continues Watters. “We usually do 4 bat counts at every roost site – two in June to count just the females and two more starting mid-July when the pups are learning to fly.”

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The males do not help with raising the young and usually roost by themselves in large trees, rock cliffs, boulder fields, or barns and buildings.

Beginning in 2012, The annual Bat Count is the only long-term monitoring program with a focus on summer roosts in B.C. The count will provide biologists valuable data which will be used to track impacts or recovery of species. Last year, volunteers conducted 888 bat counts at 274 different maternity roosts across B.C.

A focus on this years count is monitoring for White Nose Syndrome. A fungal disease that has decimated population in Eastern Canada and the United States. The fungus was detected in 2022 near Grand Forks but hasn’t been detected in B.C. However, if the count is significantly less than last year it could indicate that the disease has spread.

If you would like to sign up or report a bat colony for study you can contact the B.C. Community Bat Program at www.bcbats.ca, omineca@bcbats.ca, or 1-855-922-2287 ext. 26.

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Email: sam.bennison@pattisonmedia.com