Alberta Community Bat Program

Happy #Baturday! Let's go for a double header. Make it #Caturday too! We love our felid friends, but they do represent a real threat to bats (& birbs). Keep wildlife & kitty safe. Keep them inside or build them a catio! Cats can hear bat calls that we cannot! Maternity colonies of bats are obvious to bats because of the sounds and smells! Cats will know if your bat house is occupied. Think about how to prevent access by cats to bat houses and emerging bats! One of the reasons we suggest putting bat houses up 3meters off the ground is to prevent cats from reaching bats as they "drop and fly" out of the bottom of their bat house. #Nightbirds are #Noisy #Bats #AlbertaBats #BatHouses #BatsNeedFriends

The devil is in the details! Bats are fascinating to study - even for virologists. Although there are links between bats and some viruses around the world, the version in bats is often "related" but "not the same". The movement of viruses through different species is often complex and there can be important changes in the structure of the virus that ends up in humans. It is important to look into the details and not just read the headlines of these stories. Dr. Merlin Tuttle continues to battle the misinformation. #BatsNeedFriends

Happy #Baturday! We will be sharing our infographic series for the next few Baturdays! Things to consider when we try to keep our wild friends safe. #Bats #AlbertaBats

The "Bat Pledge". It's a good one. Be "Bat-friendly". It will make the world a better place. #BatsNeedFriends #BatPledge #DoYourPart #AlbertaBats

Trying out a new type of artificial bat roost for the bat species who only like tree-type roosts (like under bark)! Great initiative in Golden, BC! #BCbats #WesternBats #Bats #BatRoosts

If you ask a bat biologist which is their favourite species - often you will get the answer "CENTURIO!" for Centurio senex the Wrinkle-faced Bat who lives in south/central America. We all knew they were amazing little weirdos but this new research suggest that they are even more interesting than we even first thought! Centurio has a skin flap that it can pull up over its face - who knew this was really for attracting the ladies for some "sexy time"? Check the article out - it has some great video clips of Centurio roosting in trees and trying to woo some girls and that it could even be a type of lek where males compete for attention! #Bats #GlobalDiversity #AlwaysLearning https://www.nytimes.com//11/science/wrinkle-faced-bats.html

#JOBS WCS Canada is hiring a social media coordinator! Sounds like a fun job! UPDATE: In case you missed it: We're seeking a Social Media Coordinator to work with our WCS Canada communications team! This part-time, 1 year contract will support our on-the-ground #conservation work across Canada. Apply online by Dec 1st: https://bit.ly/36jC2I4... #SciComm See more

We are changing our world with our actions. And not in a good way. These actions affect biodiversity - including bats - one of the most diverse groups of mammals on the planet. Will we take action to change the path we are on? What can you do to improve or maintain biodiversity in your backyard? In your community? In your province? In your country? This is a great article with some alarming statistics. But there is a way back. We will be posting this month about how to be "Bat-Friendly". Many times, being "friendly" for bats means you are friendly to many species of wildlife. #WeCanDoThis #AlbertaBats #Bats #BatAppreciationMonth2020 https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54357899

Bats are not rodents and have a low birthing rate. A bat will typically only have one pup per year. Little brown bats can live to 34 year of age.

Our program staff have been monitoring several summer bat roosts in Alberta using both temperature and relative humidity loggers. Here is some of our preliminary data from a maternity colony (moms and pups) in a building near Edmonton. The number of bat files recorded from this roost of Little Brown Myotis give you an idea of: a) when bats arrive (likely shortly after they emerge from hibernation); b) when the peak in activity occurs (likely reflecting the period when moms ar...e most active (hunting to support nursing pups); and, c) when colonies start to disperse (pups start flying and the group starts roosting away from the primary roost). This kind of data is critical for determining the "timing windows" when bats are using summer roosts. Best Practices for industry, homeowners, renovators would advise when to avoid activity near a bat maternity roost. We will continue to compile this kind of data to produce solid recommendations. #bats #AlbertaBats #BatsInBuildings #BatAppreciationMonth #BeBatFriendly

Look for more bat posts this month! The last week of October is "Bat Week"! Are you planning anything? Remember you can freely post "bat-related" things over on our Alberta Bats group page as well! We would love to hear from everybody! #BatsNeedFriends #batweek2020 #AlbertaBats

Great short video from our friends WISEST-Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science & Technology who have produced a feature on bats in Alberta! It includes a nice introduction to the Wildlife Acoustics, Inc. Echometer Touch unit for detecting bats (by converting your phone or tablet into a bat detector!). Bats DO need friends! Keep an eye on our social media platforms for October as we ramp up for #BatWeek2020 at the end of the month! #AlbertaBats

Educators! Are you interested in bats? #BatWeek is coming! Here is a great webinar coming up soon! You will be all ready for Bat Week after this one! #Bats #AlbertaBats #batnetwork

Sticky Traps may be a bigger issue for wildlife than you might think. How many people still use these things? Please let your friends and neighbours know that these traps are NOT wildlife friendly. If they must be used, they should be caged so that small birds and mammals cannot access them. #batsneedfriends #BeWildlifeFriendly #bats

Thank you everyone who has liked, commented, engaged with our Alberta Community Bat Program page! It may seem like a small thing, but reporting on social media engagement and followers can make a significant difference when we apply for grants to support the program! We truly thank you for your support! Please continue to engage with the page! And recruit your friends because #BatsNeedFriends!

Muy bien! There are only three species of vampire bats out of 1,421 bat species on the planet. They are all tiny. Two of them only feed on birds. None of them occur in Alberta! (this is a common question at school-aged talks!). You have to go to Mexico/Central America to find them (although I have heard reports of them ranging into the very southernmost parts of USA). These bats are SUPER interesting. They are very cooperative with each other. #bats #AmazingBehaviours #VampireBats

#AlbertaBats are often found in barns! With a little creative planning, there are ways to keep them roosting in place while taking steps to "catch" guano to minimize mess. Usually they are faithful to one or two spots in a building and guano collects directly beneath roosting bats. A strategically placed bucket or for tricky spots, a tarp slung like a "hammock" a couple of metres or so below the roosting bats can contain any falling guano. Did you know bats are known to hunt insects around large mammals like cattle, deer and likely horses too? Biting flies and mosquitoes are known to be a part of bat diets. Bats are #HelpersInTheBarn! #BatFriendlyFarming #bats #BatsNeedFriends

#fridayfunny Artist is Andrés J. Colmenares, under the pseudonym wawawiwa. Insta:... https://instagram.com/wawawiwacomics?igshid=1q7u9joqiesfp See more

Thank you again DNA Gardens for making us a part of your farm activities! Your work, maintaining bat houses, doing bat counts and collecting guano for research is very much appreciated. And the new "Bat Walk" is not only super fun, but super educational! Thank you for being a fundamental part of our "Bat-friendly Farming Initiative"!! #bats #batfriendlyfarming #batsneedfriends

Congratulations to the Waterton Biosphere Reserve for a successful season working with landowners to help them with bat roosts and coordinating engagement with our #CitizenScience project (counting bats and submitting guano samples!). They just got a congratulatory nod from the Land Stewardship Centre! Great job! And thanks to all the landowners in the Waterton area who participated this year in the bat project! This is a long-term monitoring project - so let's hope everyone keeps counting their bats and submitting their numbers! https://www.landstewardship.org//alberta-biosphere-reser/

Great day to talk about bats at DNA Gardens! They have a new "bat walk" around the farm with facts and jokes. Bat houses (that are occupied by bats in summer) and 4chamber bat houses for sale. Special this weekend was their apple festival and wine tasting! And there *might* have been sampling of homemade gelato! #Alberta #albertabats #bats #batsneedfriends #BatFriendlyFarming

I used this very photo tonight in a bat talk! Red Bats be cray cray. It just doesn't seem like a great idea to curl up in a ball and sleep in the leaves on the ground (no matter how good your camouflage is!). Our western population of Eastern Red Bats (seriously, somebody needs to change that name) seems to migrate south - and nobody is really sure what they do wherever they go - this "sleeping in the leaves" seems to be something the eastern populations do in their eastern USA forest habitats. They ARE beautiful bats. And they really DO look like dried up leaves. Interesting behaviour! #bats #SleepingInTheLeafPile #RedBats

Rapid temperature changes, lack of insect prey are thought to be the cause. Makes you wonder of bats were also affected. :-(

The Hoary Bat is an amazing species. Not only is it our largest bat in Canada, but it is also an amazing migrator who routinely flies up to 2000km between summer and winter habitats each year. The Hawaiian Hoary Bat is a subspecies that is unique (and endemic) to the Hawaiian Islands. Essentially, it is the same species as the mainland - but it independently colonized the islands many many moons ago (and stayed there!). For those of you keeping track of the Latin or scientific names for bats - this species is known as Lasiurus cinereus. However a recent taxonomic change suggests that this species should be in its own Genus Aeorestes. At the moment, most bat specialists still refer to it with its older taxomic name. But either way, it is a beautiful and gorgeous bat. #Bats #BatsNeedFriends #MigratoryBats

It's a Virtual Bat Conference! "Bat Matters" conference is being coordinated by our friends at the BC Community Bat Program. Check it out for events running through Sept 28 to October 9th. This group includes leaders in bat conservation in western Canada. Check it out if you are interested! With a $25 registration - you can't go wrong! #Bats #BatsNeedFriends #SaveTheBats