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Going Batty

As the sky began to darken, Jeff Reder headed into a barn near Hancock, New Hampshire. Pen and paper in hand, he started counting—bats, that is.    

Reder is one of dozens of citizen scientists who helped researchers this summer. In New Hampshire and other states, these volunteers tracked bats to find out the size of their populations. It’s all part of an effort to save bats from a deadly disease called white-nose syndrome (WNS).  

The winged creatures spend the summer in warm, dark, quiet places, like barns. At night, they take flight to find food and drink. That’s when counting the bats gets tricky.

“In early evening, you can see them,” Reder explains. “But as it gets darker and they’re flying into trees, not the open sky, it’s harder to count.”  

A Deadly Disease

WNS is named for a fuzzy white fungus that appears on the noses of infected bats. The disease causes bats to be more active than usual. So they burn off the fat they need to survive the winter. Many bats freeze or starve to death. Since WNS was first discovered in the U.S. in 2006, it has killed millions of bats across the U.S. 

Some people think of bats simply as creepy critters. But bats play an important role in the environment. They eat pests like beetles and moths, which can destroy crops. Bats also spread seeds that help more than 300 types of fruit, including bananas and avocados, grow. 

Researchers use information from the volunteers’ counts to determine areas where bats need the most help. And experts hope for a higher tally each year—a sign that bats might be on the road to recovery. 

All About Bats

  • Bats are the only mammals that can fly. Some can reach speeds of up to 100 miles per hour.

  • There are about 1,400 species of bats. Some are smaller than your thumb. Others have a 5-foot-long wingspan.

  • Bats let out high-pitched sound waves, which bounce off an object. The time it takes the echo to reach the bat lets it know the location of the object. This process is called echolocation.
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