“SUMMER 7″ CREW GONE BATTY

The Crew known as “Summer 7” has its own story to tell.  Stationed in the southern range of the Green Mountain National Forest, the eight Corps Members of Summer 7 had the opportunity to work with the United States Forest Service constructing and hanging bat boxes in areas surrounding the Manchester Ranger Station.  The purpose of the project was to secure habitat and homes for Vermont’s plummeting bat population. The bat population’s decrease stems from white nose fungus which has negatively affected bats around the country.  Learn more about bats on the USFS’s website.
The crew worked in the USFS’s Carpentry Workshop where they measured, cut, and constructed a dozen bat boxes. After they gained a fair bit of carpentry experience, Corps Members used GPSs to find the pre-determined locations where the bat boxes were to be hung.  At the end of the project, Corps Members were quite proud.  As Corps Member Joe Bedford put it, “It is a fulfilling feeling to have been a part of doing some good work for the community.”

If you’d like to help the bat population, you can build your own bat boxes or count local colonies.

For more information on bats, spiders, or other creepy crawlies, please contact our in-house specialist,
Chris Ricker at 802.434.3969 ext. 140.