BATS: EXPERT ADVICE ON PLACING BAT BOXES ON OUR PRESERVE, March 8th

Saturday 7 March 2026, 10 am. (bad weather alternate date of 8 March)

Bat expert Alyssa Bennet of Vermont Fish and Wildlife will share her work with helping Vermont’s bat populations recover and lead a hike to determine the best places on the Preserve to place bat houses.  Vermont is home to nine bat species, five of which are now listed as endangered or threatened. White nose syndrome has decimated bats nationwide = – an unprecedented disease of cave-hibernating bats caused by a fungus that thrives in the cold. Our bat houses are most likely to attract little brown (Myotis lucifugus) or big brown (Epetiscus fuscus) bats. Females of these species congregate in groups in spring through summer to give birth and rear their young. Little brown bat populations declined by up to 90% in just a few years due to WNS and are now listed as endangered in the state of Vermont. These insect-eating bat species are a vital part of our state’s ecosystem and suitable, protected summer roost sites are critical to their survival, which requires places for female bats to raise their young. Our goal is to provide suitably sited bat houses and to monitor the results. For more information see on Vermont’s bats see Got Bats? | Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department.

We will be outside – dress for the weather conditions and wear snowshoes or foot traction gear as needed.

Meet at the Krusch Preserve entrance/parking lot at 316 North Cambridge Road, Cambridge, VT

PLEASE PREREGISTER by emailing sblaughlininvt@gmail.com

If the walk is postponed, we will contact everyone the day before.