We’d like to thank everyone that traveled to Natchez, MS to participate in the MBWG’s 21st Annual Mist Net Event. Fifty participants from eight states attended the event, representing a diversity of private organizations, consultants and government agencies. The event featured a training focused on identification of Mississippi’s bat species and guidance on listed species and the survey guidelines provided by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. On the second day of the event participants were able to tour St. Catherine’s Creek National Wildlife Refuge, visiting artificial roosts with Rafinesque’s big-eared bats and birding around the refuge’s wetlands. Following the event a field trip to a culvert roost provided an opportunity to see over a dozen northern long-eared bats. Netting occured on the Natchez Trace Parkway and Canemount Wildlife Management Area the first night and the Homochitto National Forest the second night. We hope everyone had safe travels home and can return to join us for next year’s event. Eleven sites were surveyed over the two nights of netting, with a total of 12 bats captured, representing five species (evening bat, eastern red bat, Seminole bat, big brown bat, and tricolored bat).
Captures:
| Common name | Species | Captures |
| Evening bat | Nycticius humeralis | 5 |
| Eastern red bat | Lasiurus borealis | 4 |
| Seminole bat | Lasiurus seminolus | 1 |
| Big brown bat | Eptesicus fuscus | 1 |
| Tricolored bat | Perimyotis subflavus | 1 |
Tricolored bat (above)
Participants represented the following groups:
| National Park Service | US Fish and Wildlife Service |
| US Forest Service | US Army Corps of Engineers |
| MS Dept. of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks | Missouri Dept. of Conservation |
| MS Dept. of Transportation | Choctaw Nation (Oklahoma) |
| Choctaw Nation (Mississippi) | Stillman Nature Center (Illinois) |
| Many Private Consulting Firms | Mississippi State University |
| University of Oklahoma |