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Fort Laramie National Historic Site's Biodiversity Is Fairly Batty

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At least eight, and as many as 11, bat species have been recorded at Fort Laramie National Historic Site/Kurt Repanshek file photo

Fort Laramie National Historic Site in eastern Wyoming is known far and wide for its military history, Native American homelands, fur trade era, famous emigrant trails — the Oregon, California, and Mormon Pioneer Trails — and the Pony Express. In the past few years, the fort has also been gaining renown for its natural resources.

The most recent resource brief released by the Northern Great Plains Network documents important bat activity at Fort Laramie. The research employed acoustic monitoring techniques to identify and quantify the eight confirmed species of bats present within the park. A total of 142,807 bat call recordings over 95 nights in 2015 and 2016 were analyzed to identify bat species using specialized software. Three other species are likely to occur in the park, but were not confirmed through the recordings.

One thing is certain: Fort Laramie has the highest rate of bat activity of any of the 13 national park units in the Northern Great Plains Network. Visitors can pick up the new resource brief at the visitor center or online at this site. Visitors can enjoy a special bat program at the fort each summer to hear the echolocation sounds that these ecologically critical creatures make.

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