Around Halloween, you're sure to see bat decorations that add to the fright of the holiday.

But Dave Redell is not afraid of bats; he is afraid for them.

The bat ecologist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said that a mysterious but deadly disease discovered about five years ago threatens bats' survival.

White Nose Syndrome is not in the Midwest yet, but has killed up to 90 percent of bats in some colonies in northeastern United States.

Redell is so concerned about bats' future that he and his wife put up $10,000 to establish an endowment to provide for their long-term protection.

"I've been wanting to do this for a few years. I finally got the money together. I really can't ask people to help unless they know I am committed, too. This is as serious as it gets for bats. It's time to get involved."

To donate, go to www.wisconservation.org.

Redell is so fascinated with bats that he has made monitoring, studying and researching them his career. Redell first was enthralled with bats as an undergraduate and realized there wasn't much information about them.

"This was something I could do for a career and never get bored," he said.

Here's some of what he's learned:

* "I've been in swarms of thousands of them," and he's never been bitten, although he does wear leather gloves.

* Bats do a lot of work for free, Redell said. A female bat eats her weight in insects every night. That means they devour agricultural and forest pests, eliminating the need for and cost of more pesticides.

* Bats can have rabies, but less than half of one percent do contract the disease. "Those that do aren't aggressive," Redell said. "They get sick and fall to the ground. That's what you want to tell the public." Do not touch a bat on the ground. Never handle any bat bare-handed.

* Bats do not head for human hair. Redell has never had one in his hair, and, "I have long hair myself."

* If there's one bat in the house, put the lights on, open a window, close up the room and wait until it flies out. "That's a longer process but it really works," Redell said.

Bat monitor

While bats are a vocation for Redell, they are an avocation for Kent Borcherding, of Hazel Green, Wis. He volunteers to monitor 104 bat houses from Yellowstone State Park in Wisconsin to Mississippi Palisades State Park in Illinois and other places in between.

"It helps a lot with these campsites like Yellowstone. Some people stay longer because there are no mosquitos."

His tips, facts and more:

* If there's a bat in the house, wait until it lands, put an empty margarine container on top of it, and slide cardboard underneath. Wear leather gloves, and set the bat free outside.

* "The worst thing you can do is hit at it with a tennis racket. All you're going to do is break something," Borcherding said.

* Bats are not blind. "They can see as well as a night vision scope," he said. "They are not flying mice."

* People fear what they don't understand, Borcherding said. Information can change the attitude from confrontation to conservation. Few other creatures have so many myths connected to them.

* If a bat in the house bit a person or an unvaccinated pet, or if it was in the room with someone who was sleeping, it will need to be tested for rabies, says Bat Conservation International. Bites are not always visible.

* Bat populations are declining, and half the bat species in the United States are listed as rare, threatened or endangered, according to www.batworld.org.

* There are nine species of bats in Iowa, and it is illegal to capture, harm or kill a bat.