The Missouri Bat Working Group is organizing an in-state bat blitz on the
Mark Twain
National Forest in May 2008 in southwest Missouri. This effort is being organized by the
Ava/Cassville/Willow Springs Ranger District. The weekend dates for mist-netting will be
Thurs-Sun nights, May 15-18. The Mark Twain National Forest and MO Bat Working Group
would like to invite any neighboring volunteers to join us for the weekend netting event.
The goal will be to survey the Ava and Cassville units of the District on the
National Forest for presence/use of Indiana bats and possibly Ozark big-eared
bats. The Ava unit has an area of influence around
Tumbling Creek Cave where there
have been occurrences of hibernating Indiana bats. The Cassville unit is in the
range of both Indiana bats and Ozark big-eared bats. These two units do not have
much collected survey data and this would be a good chance to get a
presence/absence call on the units. Any Indiana bats captured, male or female,
will be fitted with radio transmitters and followed throughout the duration of
signal by USFS personnel (and any interested volunteers!).
Areas to be surveyed
would be determined based upon the location of timber harvesting and prescribed
burn projects being planned for the two units. Prior to mistnetting, locations
would be field-checked by USFS personnel to determine their suitability for
surveying. There will likely be a total of 20 netting sites identified. Data on
all species sampled will be collected. Mist-netting and Anabat recordings will be
the sampling methodology.
Click here for lodging info and directions.
Free limited lodging will be available at the
Bull Shoals Field Station for the Ava unit and Camp Smokey at
Roaring River State Park for the Cassville unit. There are kitchen and
shower facilities on both sites, but you'll need to bring your own bedding, towels, and
food. There is limited reimbursement for meals. Everyone will need to fill out a
volunteer agreement before they can participate.
Roaring River State Park is roughly 15 minutes from Cassville, MO, 1.5 hours drive from
Springfield, MO and 5 hours from St. Louis, MO and 4 hours from Kansas City, MO.
Bull
Shoals Field Station is 1.5 hours from Springfield, 1 hour from Ava, Mo, and 5 hours from
Kansas City or St. Louis, MO. Please refer to websites for more detailed information.
If you have an interest in participating, please contact Nettie ASAP! Teams are being
formed and sites grouped based on the amount of participation. We'd appreciate your help
and hope you can come to enjoy the Ozarks in May!
Contact information:
Nettie Sitting Up Perez
USFS Wildlife Biologist
Ava/Cassville/Willow Springs RD
Mark Twain National Forest
Phone: 417-683-4428 asittingup@fs.fed.us
Ty Swirin
Wildlife/Range Tech on the District
Ava/Cassville/Willow Springs RD
Mark Twain National Forest tswirin@fs.fed.us
BAT BLITZ 2008
August 11 - 14, 2008
Bankhead National Forest, Alabama
Download: 2008 Bat Blitz flyer (PDF - Updated 11-24-07).
The 2008 SBDN Bat Blitz will take place at the 182,000 acres
Bankhead National Forest, Alabama
from August 11th to the 14th. The Bankhead is in northwest Alabama, about an hours
drive north of Birmingham. The forest contains over 150 known caves and the 22,000 acres Sipsey Wildnerness Area.
It is a diverse landscape with longleaf pine in the south and cove hardwoods to the north.
Blitz Headquarters will be at Camp McDowell
which is located 15 minutes south of Double Springs and 30 minutes north of Jasper.
Arrival is set for Sunday (10th). Netting will occur Monday thru Wednesday (11th - 13th) and
departure will be on Thursday morning (14th).
Potential species include Indiana, Gray, Red, Big Brown, Northern
long-eared, Eastern Pipistrelle, Hoary, Rafineque's big-eared, Evening,
Silver-haired, Seminole, Southeastern, and Little Brown bats.
For more information, contact Tom Counts (phone: 205-489-5111, Ext 142;
tcounts@fs.fed.us) or Allison Cochran (phone: 205-489-5111, Ext. 141;
jacochran@fs.fed.us).
WANTED: SBDN Bat Blitz Hosts -
The annual Bat Blitz is one of our most successful
programs. This program brings together biologists and land managers to gather important information on
the bat fauna of a selected area. Learn more:
Bat Blitz Information and FAQs
The Missouri Bat Working Group is organizing an in-state bat blitz on the
The 2008 SBDN Bat Blitz will take place at the 182,000 acres
Bankhead National Forest, Alabama
from August 11th to the 14th. The Bankhead is in northwest Alabama, about an hours
drive north of Birmingham. The forest contains over 150 known caves and the 22,000 acres Sipsey Wildnerness Area.
It is a diverse landscape with longleaf pine in the south and cove hardwoods to the north. 
