Connecticut Celebrates International Bat Week October 24 - 31
Press Releases
10/21/2026
Learn how to help conserve Connecticut’s declining bat populations
(HARTFORD)—The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is celebrating the importance of bats during Bat Week, an international event held annually during the week before Halloween. Bats face serious threats, including catastrophic population declines across North America driven largely by white-nose syndrome. These often-misunderstood animals play a critical role in maintaining healthy ecosystems and provide tremendous benefits to people, including natural pest control. Bat Week is an opportunity to highlight the importance of protecting bats and the simple actions everyone can take to help protect these important species.
“Bats are both an iconic symbol of Halloween and a critical part of the Connecticut ecosystem. The fall season is an opportunity to recognize the urgent need to protect them,” said Acting DEEP Commissioner Emma Cimino. “Safeguarding Connecticut’s native bat species ensures they continue supporting our ecosystem and enriching our communities, a mission at the heart of DEEP’s environmental conservation work.”
Bats in Crisis: White-nose Syndrome
White-nose syndrome (WNS), a disease caused by an invasive fungus, has killed millions of bats across the U.S. and Canada since 2006. For example, WNS killed over 90% of northern long-eared, little brown, and tricolored bats in the Northeast in less than 10 years, and it continues to spread across North America. The WNS crisis has prompted state and federal governments to take protective actions, including listing multiple bat species as threatened or endangered under Federal and State Endangered Species Acts. In Connecticut, the six species most affected by WNS include the big brown, little brown, northern long-eared, tricolored, eastern small-footed, and Indiana bats. All except the big brown bat are now listed as endangered under the Connecticut Endangered Species Act.
Since 2007, the DEEP Wildlife Division has been an active participant in the WNS response. Each year, DEEP biologists monitor bats in Connecticut to document population status and participate in region-wide bat monitoring and conservation programs.
You can help in the effort to conserve bats:
- Help the DEEP Wildlife Division and White Memorial Conservation Center in Litchfield count and observe bats living in the barn at White Memorial from late spring to late fall through the Bats Count! Bat Cam.
- Reduce pesticide use. Let bats and birds take care of the insects.
- Plant a pollinator garden using a mix of native plants that will stay in bloom from spring through fall. Providing habitat that supports healthy populations of insect pollinators will in turn support bats that need a lot of energy to raise their young and survive winter.
- Protect bat roosting and hibernation sites.
- Minimize outdoor lighting at night. Bats rely on the darkness to sneak up on their prey and avoid detection by predators.
- Consider putting up a bat house. Providing bats with a safe place to roost is a great way to support their recovery while keeping them out of your home.
- Spread the word about Bat Week!
- Join us for Bat Appreciation Day at Old New-Gate Prison held every year in September!
Bats with WNS often wake from winter hibernation and seek food and water, only to perish from exposure. If you see bats outside during the winter, please report your sighting to DEEP.BatProgram@ct.gov or call the DEEP Wildlife Division at 860-424-3011. Be sure to include the date, location, and if possible digital photos of the bat.
There are many common myths about bats, but here is the truth:
- Bats are not flying mice. In fact, they are the only mammal capable of true flight and are more closely related to whales than rodents!
- Bats are adept fliers who do not try to get caught in people’s hair. Bats that fly near people are chasing flying insects like mosquitoes.
- Bats are not blind. They have good eyesight and use “echolocation” (sending and receiving sound waves, like sonar) to hunt and navigate in the dark.
- Bats are not dirty or covered in parasites. Healthy wings are essential for flight, so bats take great care in grooming themselves.
- Not all bats are “vampire bats.” Of the over 1,400 species of bats worldwide, only three are true vampire bats which feed primarily on birds and cattle, and they are found in Central and South America.
- Bats are tremendously valuable to humans. For example, bats are the single greatest known predator of night-flying insects like mosquitoes. A colony of 150 big brown bats can eat roughly 1.3 million insects annually. Bats are estimated to contribute at least $3 billion annually to the U.S. agricultural economy through pest control. Bats’ big appetite for insects also benefits the forest products industry and reduces the need for chemical pesticide use in many areas, simultaneously providing health benefits to humans. In parts of the U.S., particularly the Southwest, bats also are important plant pollinators.
“For far too long, bats have often been misunderstood and feared by people, largely due to Hollywood hype, myths, and the association they’ve had with Halloween which undermines their irreplaceable value to the economy, ecosystem, and human health,” said Jenny Dickson, DEEP Wildlife Division Director. “Celebrating Bat Week helps change public perception of these fascinating and unique flying mammals. In many cultures, bats are revered as a symbol of good fortune and their value is celebrated. This week helps more people learn about bats, understand their importance, and care about their conservation which is critical as we try to help bat populations recover from white-nose syndrome and other conservation threats.”
Want to learn more about bats? Follow CT Fish and Wildlife on Facebook or Instagram for interesting facts, photos, and videos about bats during Bat Week, or visit the DEEP Bat webpage.
Bats are the single greatest predator of night-flying insects. A single colony of big brown bats can eat roughly 1.3 million insects every year – nearly 9,000 insects per bat.
Photo credit: Paul Benjunas/CT DEEP Wildlife Division
- Twitter: @CTDEEPNews
- Facebook: DEEP on Facebook
Contact
DEEP Communications
DEEP.Communications@ct.gov
860-424-4100
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
