Conserve Wildlife Blog

Archive for the ‘Bats’ Category

Special Guests During Bat Survey Nights

Wednesday, August 10th, 2022

by Leah Wells

The Bat Team setting up a mist-net in the Pine Barrens

Surveying for bats means staying up late and spending a lot of time in the dark. Our evenings begin a few hours before sunset, giving us just enough time to set up for the night. We start off by scouting locations to set up our mist-nets which we use to capture bats. These fine nets, ranging from 8 – 30 ft across and 16 ft high, are attached to tall poles stationed along corridors which bats often use to forage for food. With our nets ready to be deployed, we use the last of the daylight to set up our work station where we will process the bats we hopefully catch.

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Summer Mist Netting Surveys for Northern long-eared bat Come Up Short Handed

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2022

by Meaghan Lyon

Biologists Leah Wells and Meaghan Lyon banding a Big Brown Bat

Since 2018, CWF has partnered with the USFWS New Jersey Field Office in completing summer mist netting surveys for bats in the Pinelands. The goal of these surveys is to capture the federally threatened Northern long-eared bat and track these bats to maternity roosts.

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Pine Barrens Bat Surveys Provide Insight into Bat Fidelity

Friday, July 8th, 2022

by Meaghan Lyon

Biologists Meaghan Lyon, Leah Wells, and Sherry Tirgrath each hold bats that were captured in nets and processed at camp before being released.

CWF’s team of biologists, along with several USFWS biologists from the New Jersey Field Office, specializing in bat surveying have been at it again for their fourth year of mist netting in the Pine Barrens. Mist netting surveys for bats starts at sundown and continues for five hours through to the early morning. The nets are set up across travel corridors through the woods with canopy cover and wetland foraging grounds nearby. As the bats head to and from their roosts and foraging grounds, they funnel through the corridors and into our nets. The bats are quickly and carefully extracted from the nets and then walked a short distance to our ‘camp’ where they are processed. Processing bats includes identifying bat species, sex, and reproductive status, as well as taking wing measurements.

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Bats, Vampires, and Halloween: Why the Season Brings Bats to Mind

Monday, November 1st, 2021

by Leah Wells, Wildlife Biologist

The Big Brown Bat is one of New Jersey’s most common bat species!

When you think about Halloween, the first things that may come to mind are probably trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving, black cats, and bats.

But where did the association between bats and Halloween come from?

There are around 1,400 species of bats worldwide that feed mainly on insects, fruits, rodents, and even frogs. However, 3 species of bats (the vampire bats) have a specialized diet of blood. When the discovery of these bats feeding on blood from cattle in Latin America, the name “vampire” was given to them. Then in 1897 when Bram Stoker’s Dracula hit mainstream media, the portrayal of vampires shapeshifting into bats helped solidify the idea that these creatures of the night were something to be afraid of. Vampire bats are where the group as a whole got their connection to Halloween. 

While many people still have a fear of bats, scientists and allies alike have been working to rebuild their reputation. Bat Week, which starts the week of Halloween, is an annual worldwide celebration of the role of bats in nature. This week raises awareness for bat conservation by educating the public about bats through social media and events, their role in nature, the importance they bring to agriculture, and threats they face. 

At the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, our biologists work hard throughout the year to protect our resident bat species. Whether our team is out conducting field research for our bat projects, educating the public through in-person and virtual talks, or engaging with homeowners and businesses who want to safely manage bats on their property. Our team is dedicated and committed to conserving our vulnerable bat friends. 

Happy Bat Week and Happy Halloween!

CWF In The News: Bats and summer nights – perfect together!

Saturday, August 28th, 2021

by, Ethan Gilardi, Wildlife Biologist

Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus). Photo by Ethan Gilardi.

I recently had the chance to speak with the New Jersey Conservation Foundation about CWF’s work with bats.

We discussed how bat populations are recovering from White-Nose Syndrome, the difficulties of studying such an elusive species, the projects currently being undertaken by CWF to help our bats, and what makes our bats a special and irreplaceable part of New Jersey’s wildlife community.

We’d like to thank Sandy Perry for conducting this wonderful interview and Michele S. Byers for including us as a part of New Jersey Conservation Foundations’ The State We’re In.

Check out the excerpt below and continue reading this and many other great articles on njconservation.org.


Sit outside on a summer evening around sunset and look up. If you’re in an open area with nearby woods, you may be treated to a dazzling aerial display of bats hunting for flying insects.

“They’re endlessly fascinating,” said Ethan Gilardi, a bat biologist with the nonprofit Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey. “They’re fun fliers, with all their diving and weaving and hairpin turns.”

Besides being interesting to watch, bats provide priceless insect control services in a state that jokingly refers to the mosquito as its state bird. “A single little brown bat can eat 3,000 insects a night,” noted Ethan. “They eat every kind of insect pest you can think of.”

But many of New Jersey’s bats are struggling to survive. Fifteen years ago, a fungus attacked hibernating bats, leading to a disease known as white-nose syndrome. The disease disrupts hibernation, causing bats to use up their vital energy needed to survive the winter. White-nose wiped out most of the bats in the Myotis genus: little brown bats – once our most widespread species – and northern long-eared bats.

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