Help save bats with the Friends of Pinery Park!
Tax deductible
Want to help with Bat Research at Pinery Park?
We are raising money to purchase bat tag readers and solar panels to power them. We have been approved for a grant BUT we can only receive it if we find a way to match the funding.
This is where you come in!
Know that every dollar donated will be matched by the grant that we receive.
Why bats?
The Little Brown Myotis is a species of bat that has been devastated by the spread of White-nose Syndrome (WNS), a fungal infection that disrupts the species during hibernation, causing depletion of fat stores and frequent death from starvation. Mortality rates have been reported as high as 100% in infected colonies and millions of bats have died since the fungus was first identified in North America in 2006. The Little Brown Myotis has been designated 'endangered' in Canada since 2012.
Bat research has been ongoing at Pinery Park for several decades. Continued research is needed to monitor population changes caused by WNS and to learn more about the behaviour and habits of this endangered species.
How does this work?
Little Brown Myotis bats are humanely captured and tagged with a passive integrated transponder, similar to the microchips used to find lost dogs and cats. The bats are then released and their movement is monitored using readers installed on known bat roosts in the park. Every time they enter or exit one of these roosts, the tag is read and recorded. Our bat technician, Heather, collects the data and monitors bat movement throughout the park. Eventually we aim to gather enough data to make inferences about group dynamics and roost selection.
Who cares?
You should! Bats are an important part of our ecosystem. A single bat can eat up to its body weight in insects in one night. Many of these insects are agricultural pests, which means that bats save our farmers money and reduce the need to introduce pesticides into our environment and food.
How much?
Any donation will help make an impact. Bat readers cost $4,000 and the solar panel system that powers each reader costs an additional $3,500.
Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to us. THE FRIENDS OF PINERY PARK
We are raising money to purchase bat tag readers and solar panels to power them. We have been approved for a grant BUT we can only receive it if we find a way to match the funding.
This is where you come in!
Know that every dollar donated will be matched by the grant that we receive.
Why bats?
The Little Brown Myotis is a species of bat that has been devastated by the spread of White-nose Syndrome (WNS), a fungal infection that disrupts the species during hibernation, causing depletion of fat stores and frequent death from starvation. Mortality rates have been reported as high as 100% in infected colonies and millions of bats have died since the fungus was first identified in North America in 2006. The Little Brown Myotis has been designated 'endangered' in Canada since 2012.
Bat research has been ongoing at Pinery Park for several decades. Continued research is needed to monitor population changes caused by WNS and to learn more about the behaviour and habits of this endangered species.
How does this work?
Little Brown Myotis bats are humanely captured and tagged with a passive integrated transponder, similar to the microchips used to find lost dogs and cats. The bats are then released and their movement is monitored using readers installed on known bat roosts in the park. Every time they enter or exit one of these roosts, the tag is read and recorded. Our bat technician, Heather, collects the data and monitors bat movement throughout the park. Eventually we aim to gather enough data to make inferences about group dynamics and roost selection.
Who cares?
You should! Bats are an important part of our ecosystem. A single bat can eat up to its body weight in insects in one night. Many of these insects are agricultural pests, which means that bats save our farmers money and reduce the need to introduce pesticides into our environment and food.
How much?
Any donation will help make an impact. Bat readers cost $4,000 and the solar panel system that powers each reader costs an additional $3,500.
Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to us. THE FRIENDS OF PINERY PARK
Organizer
Gayle Jeffery
Organizer
Grand Bend, ON
THE FRIENDS OF PINERY PARK
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically tax deductible in Canada.
