Here at BAT, we don't like BAT's, but we love bats! (...Y'know what, it made sense in my head, ok?)

Bat Week is at its end, but the importance of bats to our ecosystem goes far beyond Bat Week. Sadly, North American bat populations are facing a crisis. A cold-loving fungus called white-nose syndrome has decimated up to 7 million bats in the Untied States and Canada. White-nose syndrome was discovered in a cave in New York in 2006. Since then, it has spread rapidly, and has now been detected in seven provinces and 33 states, including Washington state. Glacier National Park biologists feel that it is just a matter of time before white-nose syndrome arrives in Glacier.

In 2011, park biologists launched the Bat Inventory and Monitoring program in order to better understand what species of bats live in Glacier. This video captures the goals of the program and why researchers are working hard to monitor Glacier’s bat populations. The hope is to be better able to manage and understand the impacts of white-nose syndrome upon its arrival.

Video by Eddie Roqueta