GRANDVIEW, W.Va. (WCHS) — Bats give many people the willies, but there's also a group that thinks they're cute. Regardless of how you feel, one thing is for sure - bats are very important.

"Bats are just part of the ecosystem, insect control and other things like that. There are bats that are pollinators. It's just all part of the ecosystem," said Jacki Wright, a volunteer at the New River Gorge National Park.

Recently, their numbers have greatly declined - mainly due to white-nose syndrome, a disease that has impacted bats across much of the country.

This is why biologists are asking for help with bat surveys at Grandview, which is part of the New River Gorge National Park.

"Anybody is free to come, come watch. If they want to help count, they can help count. We'll give them a clicker and they can help count. We are here on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month. We start about a half hour before the sunset, and we're here until the end of October," Wright said.

The bat condo at Grandview is where you'll find many of them. Besides giving the bats a nice place to rest, Wright said there was also another reason for its construction.

"It was built because the bats were roosting at Theater West Virginia, which is also here. This way, they gave the bats another place to roost and not among the actors. They come out the eaves," Wright said. " It's really neat toward when it starts getting dusk, you can hear them in there. You can hear them scratching and things like that."

The condo can hold up to 10,000 bats. Abandoned coal mines in the New River Gorge also serve as important homes.

"There are 10 species of bats that are located in the park. Four are federally endangered," Wright said. "Virginia Big Ear Bats and the Little Brown Bats are the more common ones."

Rock climbers can also help with the counts.

"That's where they roost. They're asking the rock climbers to report if they see any bat activity. I started this count last year with the park, and we've been averaging about a hundred a night. In the 1990s, there were a thousand. We're just trying to get an idea of what is out there," said Wright.

If you'd like to volunteer for the Grandview bat count, contact The New River National Park and Preserve at 304-465-0508.