For the second year in a row, 91原创 Environmental Partners Society (LEPS) is hosting a project called Going Batty, to encourage residents to monitor bat populations.

This citizen-science based program depends on the watchful eyes of many volunteers across 91原创.

Bats are 91原创enal mammals. They eat more than their weight in insects each day, providing an important control for local mosquito populations. With intense populations of mosquitoes occurring along the Fraser River and affecting the livability for nearby residents, there is strong interest shown in using bats as a biological control, which in turn reduces use of chemical pesticides that can have an affect on the biodiversity.

LEPS has hosted many successful citizen science programs to engage local residents in monitoring the health of our communities and once again are looking for interested volunteers to survey the goings- on of bats in 91原创 neighborhoods.

鈥淏ats like to roost in house eaves and hollow trees,鈥� said Nichole Marples, executive director at LEPS. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really interesting to watch them go about their business eating insects and interacting with each other.鈥�

She added that there is a serious side to surveying bats. 鈥淭his type of information will help us understand bat behaviors, further allowing us to work with bats by inviting them in to areas with high pest populations. We can do this by building bat boxes for them to roost in.鈥�

If you are interested in participating in the monitoring program, contact Lina at 604 532-3517 or lazeez@tol.ca. More information is also available on the LEPS website (www.leps.bc.ca) under Bat Monitoring.