Bat Capture & Handling Workshop • Trough Creek State Park

Join BCM for a summer weekend bat blitz in scenic Trough Creek State Park August 16-19, 2024 in south-central Pennsylvania! Provided as an opportunity for those who are looking to increase their bat field work experience, particularly hands on mist net, harp trap, and capture techniques. Our Bat MiniBlitz will combine lectures on capture techniques and Eastern bat ID with outdoor fieldwork intended to provide participants with an opportunity to gain experience with a range of bat inventory and monitoring techniques. Field outings will provide hands-on experience in deploying single-, double-, and triple-high mist nets and harp traps in unique configurations not found in typical survey protocols.  Participants will have an opportunity to set bat detectors passively, and also conduct a unique kayak transect to capture high-quality recordings. For those interested in acoustic data management, there will be an opportunity to observe post-process acoustic data and start the process of interpreting bat activity and species presence. Who this is for: federal and state agency biologists tasked with managing bats or wildlife professionals, students, and citizen scientists looking for -field work- experience. Those handling bats must have rabies pre-exposure vaccination. While any PA bat species is possible to encounter, there is -no guarantee- of what species will be captured. That said, it is ideal for anyone looking to gain fieldwork experience in a supportive environment.  Fieldwork location: Bat capture and some acoustic monitoring will occur in the north end of Trough Creek State Park. There will be an opportunity for  at least one acoustic transect on nearby Raystown Lake. Basic Agenda:Friday evening August 16; Mist netting at Trough Creek State ParkSaturday August 17; morning and afternoon mist net and bat detector assembly, late afternoon dinner, evening bat capture mist netting until 1 AM?Sunday August 18; afternoon activities: mist net reconfiguration, or acoustic data post processing. Evening mist netting or acoustic kayak transect, demobilization, and campfire. Lodging: Lodging is on your own. There is a campground onsite at Trough Creek State Park, and larger ones at Raystown Lake. The Lake Raystown Resort is just outside the park and has a large number of cabins and hotel rooms, but book up fast. There are various vacation rental houses in the area. The nearest hotels are ~25 minutes north in Huntingdon, PA. There is a gas station/ convenience store ~10 minutes away in Enriken, PA, a  pizza shop, and a restaurant at the Lake Raystown Resort. Huntingdon has a Wall-Mart and numerous restaurants and grocery stores. Food: There will be a dinner available Saturday late afternoon to facilitate the mist net operation. Water, soda, coffee, and bat snacks will be available throughout the day. If you have dietary restrictions please be sure to read labels and consider bringing enough snacks to be comfortable throughout the day and night.