Tomorrow I submit my annual bat count to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. On two separate evenings I counted 17 and 18 coming out of Kibler School and 15 and 17 coming out of the bat house on the eastern side of my shed. I don’t know what accounts for the different numbers; theoretically I should have gotten the same count at each location. It is quite possible I missed one or two, of course.
The bats are doing better after the low point about five to seven years ago. Perhaps the ones that are left have some kind of immunity to the “white nose syndrome” that killed thousands in Pennsylvania and other states.
Last year I didn’t have any in the bat house, but about 35 in Kibler School. I’m thinking maybe the colony split up. I now have a new and larger house on the south side of the shed, but sometimes it takes a while before bats find their houses. Maybe next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment