If you find yourself asking “What’s a bridge blitz?,” you’ve come to the right blog post.
The Georgia Bat Working Group recently held its first bridge blitz. It involved staff from DNR’s Small Mammal team, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Georgia Department of Transportation and environmental firms that contract with DOT spending two days checking for bats in over 100 bridges, culverts and other transportation structures across the state.
The all-hands-on-deck effort visited some sites not surveyed before and discovered new bat roosts. The data collected will help protect bats during any needed work at the sites, and help make all the legwork that goes into such construction more efficient.
Checking underneath a bridge for bats during the blitz (Special to GaDNR)
BATS AND BUILDINGS
Another timely note about bats, if you need to exclude them from a building, now is the time. Maternity season is over, the pups are old enough to fly and it’s not too cold yet to risk trapping bats inside. Learn more.
Homeimprover
The Georgia Bat Working Group’s effort to inspect more than 100 bridges and culverts is a smart way to discover bat roosts before construction work begins. It shows why checking existing structures matters for both safety and conservation, and similarly, copper gutter installation can be a worthwhile home improvement for managing rainwater and protecting a building’s exterior.