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By Ad Crable | lancasteronline.com
Strolling through Kelly's Run's deep ravine River Hills Nature Preserve in Holtwood, Pennsylvania, in southern Lancaster County, is never a walk in the park. There are passages for rivers, wet and mossy rocks to climb, and steep paths engraved on the slopes.
Imagine then traveling three miles on a hot moonless night while two people are forced to sneak and sneak under branches and thickets of rhododendrons, because their poles are six feet high and wearing sensitive microphones protruding towards the sky from the middle of their bag.
That's what seven volunteers infused with courage and determination did recently on Tuesday night, hoping to record the faint sounds of bats that they can not hear and rarely see.
In a citizen science project whose mission comes from a wildlife tragedy, students and public volunteers from the University of Millersville devote three years to auditing bats to try to locate the last survivors of four species of bats whose populations have been devastated by the white nose. fungal syndrome that has killed more than a million bats in Pennsylvania since 2009.
Locating the remaining populations and safeguarding their habitat has become a national priority initiative, but the emergency situation has been so rapid that there are not enough scientists to go on. attack only the task.
That's where Carter Farmer, a 34-year-old student from the Applied Conservation Lab of Millersville University, comes in.
Working under the direction of Aaron Haines, associate professor of biology, she obtained college grants for the purchase of bat detection equipment and software and organized these nocturnal raids in southern Lancaster County.
The 19 holes completed to date have all been concentrated in five Lancaster County Conservancy – owned reserves where construction – including the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline – and development are present or could be at the same time. future and could disrupt the piercing or colonization of bats on the edge.
"With all the climate change, pollution and construction, we are in an extremely difficult situation," said Farmer, from Manheim Township and working at the secondary level. "Even if there is no cure (for the white nose syndrome), we are fighting against the clock to give some of them a chance to fight."
In winter, the bats most vulnerable to the fungus are concentrated in caves. But in summer, they migrate, feed and nestle in the trees, opening a window on such efforts to locate them.
Farmers hope that the citizen science protocol put in place at the local level will encourage other communities to do the same.
An hour before dusk, seven people from different regions of the county converge on Kelly's parking lot near Holtwood. Tape and elastics are used to attach the microphones to the tent poles. Chad Mowbray, a recent graduate of Penn Manor, and Tania Collazo, a student at Millersville University in York, will wear banners all night long.
The other participants in the survey will take turns recording the basic data, recording the results and telling the two microphone holders when they have to hide – from time to time crawling – under obstacles so that hundreds of dollars of sensitive equipment are not destroyed. The team is made up of Adam Bert, 35, Neffsville, Gordon Bosler, 64, Lancaster and Kaylie Beale, 21, of Lititz. Bosler and Beale are in training to become certified natural masters of Pennsylvania.
The microphones are designed to search and locate the sounds that bats produce to focus on insects. The sound waves bounce off the prey and instantly return to the bats in a very precise triangulation system called echolocation. Bats see with their eyes but it is more effective.
When the sounds are recorded, they go through two different bat identification software, one inserted into a laptop that Mowbray watches and the other on a cell phone monitors Collazo. Each species of bat emits at different frequencies and duration of sounds, although there may be some overlap.
At 8:55 pm, at dawn, and after a careful inspection of a Copperhead snake along the trail, the group stops in an opening overlooking the Susquehanna River and the Holtwood Dam.
Near this place about two weeks ago, both bat identification systems recorded a bit of brown bat, now, because of the disease, one of the rarest bald Pennsylvania meadow. About 99% of their population was exterminated in that state. In January, the little brown was ranked as an endangered species by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
The little brown is one of four species of bats decimated that local surveys are particularly sought after. The others are the Nordics, Indiana and the tricolor.
Each has seen its population decrease by at least 90% in Pennsylvania.
The tricolor bats have fallen more than 90% in Pennsylvania because of the white nose syndrome fungus.
The group retrieves the recordings of a red bat, a bat fending quite well in Pennsylvania. Then, lightning strikes twice.
"Here it is, a tricolor bat!" someone screams.
And we can see it as it collapses and it removes insects from the blue sky nearby.
Even with separate positive readings, this does not prove that we are observing a rare bat. Just catching the bat itself would do that. But the recordings will be sent to other agencies for analysis. If confirmed, the presence could force any nearby construction to coordinate with state agencies to minimize disruption.
The rest of the night is spent walking under the canopy of the forest. Some bats prefer open areas to hunt insects, but others opt for the edges or the interior of the forests.
At 11:14, after a short bend, we are back on the parking lot and the registration ceases. In addition to the rare observation possible, we saw more red bats, at night, large brown bats and ash. During the three summers of investigations, the project has collected calls from 10 species of state bats.
Greg Turner, wildlife biologist for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the agency responsible for the welfare of bats in the state, believes that such hard work is valuable and valuable. "Knowing that the species is active and active is a positive benefit.In winter, bats are bouncing everywhere, they are always looking for what they want and it is very useful to To get some of this information in the summer. "
Farmers hope to hold weekly bat surveys for the rest of the summer and the public is invited to help them. Volunteers may be asked to look for survey routes during the day or to help with materials and data during night surveys. If you are interested, contact Farmer by email at [email protected]. com.
"These citizen science opportunities will provide students and bat enthusiasts with an exceptional learning experience that will allow them to better understand and actively engage in the conservation of bats in our community." "said Lydia Martin of the Lancaster County Conservancy.
A free bat workshop and a hike to the Climbers Run Nature Preserve at 226 Frogtown Road in Pequea will take place from 4pm to 11pm. August 10th. The event is organized by the Lancaster County Conservancy in partnership with the University of Millersville, Bat Conservation and Management Inc. and the Pennsylvania Master Naturalist program.
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