Spring has sprung at Devil's Lake State Park, and with it comes a charming little…
Back when I worked at Devil’s Lake State Park in the early ‘90s, naturalist Ken Lange (the park’s first naturalist) would tell us that the north shore bat colony was over 1,000 strong. By 2010, that often-quoted number had dropped to around 600 bats.
In 2012 the park’s third (and current) naturalist began bat education programs, but by 2014 White-nose syndrome was moving into Wisconsin and numbers began to decline. In 2019 all bat watch programs were canceled because there simply weren’t enough bats to watch. 
All along, researchers from Wisconsin’s Bat Program have monitored the falling population. In fact, just a couple of years ago, only 25-30 bats remained in the north shore colony!
But there is good news! A researcher I spoke to last week said the current count is back up to over 140 bats! Radio tagging also shows some bats have returned year to year, showing that some are surviving white-nose.
While a small victory, it’s still welcome news for Devil’s Lake State Park’s north shore colony that has been teetering on the edge for a long time.
Pics: A collection of bat program photos over the years.
Learn more: Saving Wisconsin’s Bats
For nearly 2 decades the Skillet Creek blog has focused on 3 main goals; To inspire you to visit and explore the Devil’s Lake region, to help you get the most your visit by sharing tips, events, and other helpful information. Lastly to advocate for our environment & wildlife and talk about how we can keep our natural areas amazing now and into the future! That last goal can sometimes cause controversy, but it’s the only way we can accomplish the first two. – Derrick Mayoleth, Owner.
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