Bat Blitz lands in Birmingham, researchers flock to it

Dozens of bat researchers, enthusiasts and wildlife officials from around the Southeast flocked to Birmingham this week for the Alabama Bat Working Group's annual Bat Blitz event.

The Working Group consists of bat biologists and enthusiasts working for state and federal wildlife agencies, universities, and non-profit groups, plus a few volunteers who helped conduct bat surveys at Ruffner Mountain, Turkey Creek and Oak Mountain this week.

Bat researchers and wildlife officials know there are plenty of bats in the Birmingham area.

But more detailed information about bat populations is not readily available, according to Nicholas Sharp, a non-game biologist with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

"We look for a location that hasn't had a thorough bat census," Sharp said. "We're trying to generate as many records as we can of what the community structure is, what the community composition is."

Shannon Holbrook, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Daphne office, said the survey would help them know if there were federally endangered or threatened species living in the area.

"Even some of the species that are considered at-risk that might come up for listing in the future, the more information we have, the more we know where they are, the better," Holbrook said.

The Bat Blitz is held every summer at a different location in Alabama, though usually in the northern part of the state. Last year's Bat Blitz was held in the Talladega National Forest.

This year was the first time Bat Blitz has come to the greater Birmingham area, and it proved to be a popular choice. Sharp said more than 50 people volunteered to help conduct the survey and the 80 spots available for public engagement events Wednesday at Ruffner Mountain Nature Center filled within hours.

The Birmingham-area survey is particularly important in light of the recent confirmation of white-nose syndrome in a bat in Shelby County earlier this year.

The infected bat was a species called the southeastern bat, which is prevalent throughout the state, and wildlife officials worry that the fungal disease could have a major impact on Alabama bat populations.

"We're concerned about it spreading to south Alabama with that species of bat, and we don't know what the effects are going to be."

White-nose has devastated bat populations in much of the eastern United States, including northern parts of Alabama.

"The southern tricolored bat was once a common bat in Alabama that hibernates in caves," Sharp said. "We've been tracking their numbers for the past seven or eight years in the same caves each year and their numbers are down about 85 percent in Alabama."

To prevent the spread of white-nose during the survey, the Bat Blitzers are careful to wear gloves when handling bats and disinfect any equipment that touches a bat before it is reused.

The fungus that causes white-nose is spread to new caves by bats, but also by humans if they go from cave-to-cave without disinfecting their gear. For that reason, Holbrook said spelunkers are encouraged to practice clean caving, disinfecting their boots, clothing and other gear after exiting a cave.

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