Citizen Scientists are needed to help with ongoing bat studies

August 24, 2023

Marilyn Bauchat, Uplands Network volunteer leader.

Several Uplands Network members have been helping out with bat studies in Owen-Putnam State Forest, Houston South and other locations. The studies are funded by a grant procured by Indiana Forest Alliance, but many volunteers are needed to carry equipment and monitor mist nets. Other surveys are planned in Pike State Forest.

Endangered and threatened species have been found through acoustics in the OPSF and have been acoustically and physically verified in the Houston South area of Hoosier National Forest. Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter and other environmental groups call on the U.S. Forest Service to prevent further threats to the bats by limiting prescribed fires and logging to the time of year when the animals are hibernating in order to avoid disturbance during the roosting season,  improving the bats’ chances of survival.

Three people stand in a forest near a river. There are backpacks on the ground and they are talking with another. It is daytime.
Volunteers from Uplands Network, Friends of Owen-Putnam State Forest, and Indiana Forest Alliance help carry equipment for biologists leading bat studies in the OPSF.

 

A group of people in a forest near a stream. Two are wearing hi-vis vests. It is daytime.
Four mist nets were set up by dusk along Jordan Creek and were checked by teams every ten minutes to ensure that bats were unharmed.

 

A blue-gloved hand holding a small red bat with gray and red wings. The background is dark and it is nighttime.
Although endangered bats had been previously recorded in the area, all we gathered between dusk and 2 AM were several Eastern red bats (one of which is pictured here) and one woodthrush.

If you are interested in volunteering, please email Steven Stewart: stevenstewart@indianaforestalliance.org.

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