The BC Community Bat Program is calling for volunteers to get involved in the BC Annual Bat Count.
The program has been monitoring bat roosts across the province for more than a dozen years to monitor their populations. Getting involved in the counts is easy and helps collect valuable data at maternity roosts.
Barns within the Alaksen National Wildlife Area on Westham Island in South Delta have been monitored since 2018. This site requires a minimum of 12 volunteers to count bats exiting from various locations along two barns.
The BC Annual Bat Count is set to kick off this Wednesday, June 5 at 8 p.m.
If you are interested in participating, contact Danielle Dagenais, Metro Vancouver – Sea to Sky coordinator for the BC Community Bat Program. Volunteers will be sent detailed count procedures to review and a waiver to sign before attending.
Please come prepared:
Wear long sleeves, pants, closed-toed shoes, a hat. Dress for mosquitoes as there will be plenty before the bats emerge.
No sandals, please wear close-toed shoes.
Optional to bring a chair to sit on, bug spray, and a flashlight to walk from the count site to your car.
Bats in BC are key predators of many night-flying insects. They are essential parts of BC’s ecosystems and provide billions of dollars of economic benefit by helping control agricultural, forest, and urban pests.
Please report a bat colony or sign up to help with bat counts at www.bcbats.ca, email: [email protected], or call 1-855-922-2287 ext.11.
In partnership with the BC Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, the BC Community Bat Program provides information and promotes local stewardship and citizen science.
The program runs thanks to funding from the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, Forest Enhancement Society of BC, the Habitat Stewardship Program.
You can find out more about the BC Community Bat Program and options for helping local bat populations at: www.bcbats.ca.
