Bat Project
Read about our work to help protect New Jersey's bat population.
Zoom+ Big brown bats in an attic space. © Phil Wooldridge
Benefits of Bats
Bats have a reputation as being spooky or even dangerous, but they are actually some of the most beneficial animals to people.
All of New Jersey's bats are insectivores. They feed on a huge variety of night-flying insects, including the beetles that devour our crops, the gypsy moths that denude our forests, and of course, those awful mosquitoes. A single little brown bat can eat 3,000 mosquito-sized insects per night! And big brown bats have even been found to eat stink bugs.
A recent study published in Science magazine estimates that bats' insect-eating services may be worth as much as $53 billion to US agriculture alone (read about it here). Without bats, we would be more dependent on toxic pesticides to control unwanted insects.
Some garden pests can even detect the sounds that bats make while feeding and will avoid areas where bats are present. In turn, guano (bat droppings) makes for a terrific garden fertilizer!
In other areas of the world, bats play a major role in pollinating flowers and dispersing seeds for plants such as bananas, avocados, cashews, and mangoes. By dispersing a wide variety of plant seeds over open areas, bats also help to restore the tropical rainforests following logging, fire, and other disturbances.
Many scientific advancements are owed to bats as well: navigational aids for the blind, blood-clot medication, artificial insemination techniques, low-temperature surgery on people, and military sonar have all been inspired by our night-flying friends.
Threats to Bats
Bats have been in decline for many years for many reasons. Some of the biggest threats include loss of their forest habitats and roost trees, disturbance of winter dens, and outright persecution by man. Wind energy development is also raising concerns as wind farms crop up along the ridgeline corridors used by migratory bats. In the east, studies have found that an average of 46 bats are killed annually per wind turbine. Fortunately, research is showing that bat deaths can be tremendously reduced by simply shutting the turbines down during seasonal low-wind periods, when power generation is minimal anyway. Making shut-downs an operational standard should be a priority.
Zoom+ Little brown bat with white-nose syndrome in Greeley Mine, Vermont, March 26, 2009. © Marvin Moriarty/USFWS
In 2006, an aggressive new threat emerged in the form of White-nose Syndrome (WNS). The Syndrome is named for the white fungus observed first around the noses of affected bats. The fungus attacks during winter hibernation, when the bats' immune response is low, and prevents them from conserving enough stored energy to survive until spring. The fungus may cause dehydration and unrest from water loss through the wings as well as severe wing damage that can prevent bats from flying. Nearly entire hibernating colonies of bats have died in affected caves and mines.
White-nose Syndrome was first discovered in a cave near Albany, NY, and has since spread to at least 19 U.S. states and into the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. The disease was confirmed in New Jersey in January 2009 and has severely depleted the state's most important hibernacula. Tens of thousands of NJ bats have died.
Much is still unknown about WNS and its spread, much less its consequences. The federal government, states, several universities, and private organizations are working hard to track and understand WNS. There is no evidence to suggest that WNS has any affect on humans.
Our Projects
 | Summer Bat CountGot Bats? Help us keep tabs on NJ's bat population. |
 | Acoustic Bat MonitoringHigh-tech and hands-off: New tools allow for rapid bat surveys statewide. |
 | Indiana Bat Forestry ProjectGuidance for Creating Better Woodland Bat Habitat |
 | White-Nose Syndrome ResearchA deadly fungus shifts the focus of bat conservation work. |
 | Bats In BuildingsInfo to help assess and address bat problems in the home. |
Looking For a Service Project?
If you're looking for an Eagle Scout project, a Girl Scout Gold Award project, or a practical hands-on activity for your school or community group, here's one to consider...Build and donate some bat houses!
Many, many bat colonies are evicted from attics, eaves, and buildings every year in NJ. Those bats are left homeless until they can find either another way into their roost, or some other nearby nook to call home. Often times they just move over to a neighbor's house, passing the nuisance on to someone else.
Bat houses can break the cycle. By putting up a bat house before bats are evicted from a building, they have a good chance of finding and settling into that new roost once their current one is blocked off (see our Bats In Buildings page for proper eviction techniques). This solution keeps a roof over the bats' heads, allows the homeowner to still enjoy a less buggy backyard, and prevents other cases of unwanted bats in the home.
We've come up with a great model that you can follow or tweak:
Zoom+ Bat houses getting the final touches at a community workshop.
Your group acquires the raw materials for a certain number of bat houses. You cut and prepare the bat house kits. We hold a public workshop together, where local people are educated about the importance of bats and then help to assemble the bat houses. The finished bat houses are donated to us - the Conserve Wildlife Foundation - to give to homeowners when a bat eviction is planned. We're including several pest control companies in the effort, so we have the potential to go through a LOT of bat houses. The more the merrier!
See below for bat house floor plans and installation info.
Learn more:
- Indiana Bat
- White Nose Syndrome
- A Homeowner's Guide to Northeastern Bats and Bat Problems (Penn State University)
- Bat Conservation International
- Bat House Plans Online (we use the "Three Chamber Bat Box" design!)
 | Bat Fact Sheet - 130.4KB |
| Bat House Installation Guidelines - 217.9KB |
| Partner Project - BATS Research Center - 121.8KB |
| Bat Workshop Flyer - June 16, 2012 - 649.1KB |
Contact Us:
MacKenzie Hall, Private Lands Biologist: Email
908.782.4614, Ext. 104
Find Related Info: Bats
2011-2012 is the Year of the Bat!
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Adopt an Indiana bat!
Adopt an Indiana bat and help Conserve Widlife Foundation protect this endangered species in New Jersey.