Georgia wildlife officials seeking help counting bats | Online Athens

BRUNSWICK | The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is seeking the public’s help in counting the number of bats living in the state, a population that has been in decline in recent years.

Katrina Morris, a biologist with the DNR’s Nongame Conservation Section, said some caves in North Georgia have seen an estimated 36 percent reduction in population.

She expects similar declines are happening in areas including coastal Georgia.

As bat numbers decline, humans could lose valuable pest deterrents. Bats eat insects like mosquitoes and help control populations of crop pests in Georgia’s agricultural regions.

via Georgia wildlife officials seeking help counting bats | Online Athens.