(Host) State fish and wildlife officials want homeowners to take some pity on any bats they happen to find on their property.
This time of year, homeowners will often find bats in their attics or under the eaves of their homes.
The Fish and Wildlife Department says populations of the once-common little brown bat have plummeted due to a disease known as white-nose syndrome.
Biologist Scott Darling says the bats that have survived the disease are now leaving caves and mines and migrating to their summer range.
Darling says homeowners can play a part in insuring the survival of the species.
(Darling) "Well the simplest thing you can do is if you end up with a bat in your living quarters and you’re confident that you have not had any kind of exposure or bite or anything of that nature is to let the bat out without harming it."
(Host) Darling says that the populations of the bats are so low that homeowners may want to wait and see how many bats they have in all before removing them.
The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources is currently in the process of listing the little brown bat and the northern long-eared bat as state-endangered.