Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources is encouraging residents to report bat roosts. These are the places where bats sleep and raise their babies like chimneys, trees and bridges.
DNR bat specialist John DePue says the Michigan Bat Roost Monitoring Program will collect data that will help scientists better understand bat behavior and improve conservation methods.
“Knowing where the locations are certainly helps us depending on where it is, in conserving or even potentially improving habitat,” DePue said.
DePue says state and nationwide bat populations are in decline, in part because of a disease called white-nose syndrome.
“We've seen across Michigan and in North America, for that matter, somewhere depending, you know, on the species and specific site, 80-90% decline in overwintering bats,” he said.
White nose syndrome has been present in Michigan since 2014.
DePue says putting up bat boxes yourself is another way to help bats, by providing them with a safe place to roost.
The DNR’s survey includes questions about where bats were spotted, how many there were and what were they roosting in.
This story is brought to you as part of a partnership between WKAR and Michigan State University's Knight Center for Environmental Journalism.
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.