Contact: Haley Andreozzi, UNH Cooperative Extension haley.andreozzi@unh.edu (603) 862-5327 April 27, 2021

Durham, NH – If you have ever noticed bats around your property, wildlife biologists need help from citizen science volunteers like you who may have bats in their barn or other outbuildings to conduct bat counts this summer. On Wednesday, May 12, from 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m., join Haley Andreozzi from the University of New Hampshire’s Cooperative Extension to learn more about the bat species found in New Hampshire, the threats contributing to their population declines, and how the efforts of volunteers can help conserve and monitor bats in the Granite State through bat counts this summer.

Structures such as barns and church steeples often serve as summer homes for female bats and their young. In the wake of white-nose syndrome, which is causing significant declines in bat populations throughout the Northeast, monitoring the “maternity colonies” of bats is more important than ever. The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department and UNH Cooperative Extension are jointly encouraging anyone with bats living on their property to help monitor New Hampshire’s bats by conducting “emergence counts” at roosting sites.

The virtual training will include an overview of bats in New Hampshire and information on how to participate in the NH Bat Counts project, which engages citizen science volunteers in helping to monitor summer bat colonies in New Hampshire.

For more information and to sign up, visit http://www.naturegroupie.org/. If you have questions, contact Haley Andreozzi at haley.andreozzi@unh.edu or (603) 862-5327.

The New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program coordinates research on bats in New Hampshire. Learn more at https://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/nongame/bats-nh.html.