On January 18, NJ.com reported on an effort by the Friends of Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey to save a barn that is home to approximately 2,000 bats.

According to NJ.com:

The barn was slated for demolition by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Maintenance Management System, but Friends of Supawna Meadows has petitioned for the opportunity to secure the structure so it can continue to be used by the bats.

The number of bats has decreased dramatically throughout the country due to loss of habitat and disease [such as white-nose syndrome], and with the loss of the barn, the colony of bats is in danger of being displaced when returning from their migration south, according to Judy Oship, president of Friends of Supawna Meadows.

The barn has already received a generous donation from the Carneys Point Generating Plant in the amount of $10,000 but is still in need of funds to protect the structure from collapsing…

Oship hopes to raise the funds before the bats return from migration in April.

The article goes on to report that the barn provides refuge for mostly Little brown bats (myotis lucifugus), although Large brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) and a pair of barn owls also call the barn home. Recent high winds have made the barn unstable not only for wildlife but also for volunteers. At this point the group needs $10,000 more to finish the project.

The Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences reports that bats play a vital role in insect control:

“Most people are afraid of bats, but they do us a great service, acting as an all-natural pesticide,” says Michael Gannon, an associate professor of biology at Penn State Altoona. “A single little brown bat can catch 300 to 3,000 insects per night and a nursing mother little brown bat eats half her bodyweight or more each night — estimates have run as high as 4,500 insects. Colonies of 1,000 little brown bats, which wouldn’t be uncommon in the attic of a house, may eat 2,600 pounds of insects in a summer.”

E-mail supawnafriends@yahoo.com for more information about the bat barn project or other opportunities with The Friends of the Supawna Meadows or call the refuge at (609) 463-0994.

Tags:
bats, wildlife refuge, Supawna Meadows NWR, New Jersey