Vermont State Report. Scott Darling & Alyssa Bennett Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department

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1 Vermont State Report Scott Darling & Alyssa Bennett Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department Northeast Bat Working Group Annual Meeting 2014

2 Vermont s 2013 Focus Population Monitoring Hibernacula Surveys Maternity Colony Surveys Aroostook Bunker Study (Noah s Ark?) Maternity Colony Technical Assistance Program Indiana bat investigations (actually the search for the long lost little brown) Survivorship Studies Wind Energy Monitoring

3 Status: Vermont s 9 Species of Bats Cave Bats Migratory Tree Bats Small footed bat Silver-haired bat State Threatened Big brown bat Indiana bat Northern long-eared bat State Endangered J Chenger Federally Endangered John Chenger J Kiser Tri-colored bat Little brown bat Hoary bat State Endangered State Endangered Red bat J Kiser

4 Total Number of Bats 1200 Select Vermont Winter Hibernacula Surveys Total Counts Greely Talc Mine Plymouth Cave Brandon Silver Mine Ely Copper Mine Bridgewater Gold Mine 2 Dover Iron Mine Moretown Nickwackett 0 Year of Survey

5 Number of Little Brown Bats 2013 Hibernacuala Surveys Select Vermont Winter Hibernacula Surveys Little brown bat counts Greely Talc Mine Plymouth Cave Brandon Silver Mine Ely Copper Mine Bridgewater Gold Mine 2 Dover Iron Mine Moretown Nickwackett Year of Survey

6 Maine Bunker Project OBJECTIVES: 1. To determine if cave bats in northeastern US can successfully hibernate in military bunkers exhibiting appropriate temperature and humidity regimes. 2. To determine if Gd remains on bunker substrate after infected bats have been removed. 3. To determine if Gd introduced to bunkers by infected bats can be reduced or eliminated using appropriate decontamination procedures.

7 Bunker Results 30 percent survival rate Bunker walls became infected with Pd Decontamination not successful Noah s Ark will need clean bats overwintered in a clean bunker

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9 House Bat Maternity Colonies # Colonies Investigated to Date 615 # Identified to Species AND Believed to be Maternity Colonies (Have 10 bats) 229 # Big brown bat Maternity Colonies 196 # Little brown bat Maternity Colonies 33 Big brown:little brown maternity colony ratio = 6:1 Species identification through live bats, dead bats, photos, guano, acoustics, and historic data

10 Distribution of Little Brown Bat Maternity Colonies

11 Indiana Bat Range in Vermont 2011

12 Little Brown Indiana Bat Colony Monitoring New Haven Colony: Pre-WNS Exit Count Exit Count - 4 Middlebury Colony: Pre-WNS Exit Count Exit Count - 12 New/Shifted? Middlebury Colony Less than 2 miles away 2013 Exit Count - 63

13 Little Brown Bat Maternity Colony Monitoring

14 Highest LBB Maternity Colony Counts Colony Location or Wallingford Salisbury Cornwall/Salisbury Shelburne Middlebury North Ferrisburgh Milton Ferrisburgh Monkton Newfane = Proctor Totals

15 WNS Regional Banding Study Plymouth Cave Featured in the new Battle for Bats video Silver Bands Applied in March 2012 Silver Band Returns in March 2013 Silver Band Return Rate Red Bands Applied in March 2013 Total Mylu % 31 Male % 22 Female % 9 Ratio M:F 5.4:1 14:1 2.4:1

16 October 2013 Count Count only, no bats handled, sex not recorded May not have observed all bands Found red bands on the floor of the cave Total Mylu counted (not handled) Oct # Silver bands observed 32 # Silver bands applied Silver band return rate 36% Total Red bands observed 6 # Red bands applied Red band return rate 19%

17 Aeolus Survivorship Study Because my round butt will not fit into an oval hole, Alyssa Bennett and Morgan Ingalls will present the study. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the current rate of winter mortality of little brown bats from White-nose Syndrome at Aeolus Cave.

18 Wind Energy in Vermont Curtailment Regime 6 meters/sec wind speed* June 1 September 30 Testing temperature threshold of 50 degrees F * RPMs ~ 1 Prior to Cut-in

19 Bat Fatality Monitoring Sheffield First Wind Site 16 Turbines Observed Fatalities Species Hoary Bat 47 9 Silver-haired Bat 14 9 Red Bat 26 1 Fatalities may be related to wind speed conditions which can vary greatly from year to year.