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Biologists go batty over new discovery
Experts had thought breed only roosted in buildings

Ethan Baron
The Province

November 2, 2005

Two Nelson-area student biologists surprised a symposium of bat scientists when they revealed their discovery that Townsend's big-eared bats are roosting in caves in the Interior.

Their findings have implications for development and industry in roosting areas.

University students Thomas Hill and Aaron Reid spent three summers in a computer-aided quest for the maternal roosting sites of Corynorhinus townsendii.

The species' maternal colonies, which number up to 200 bats, had been found only in human-made structures in B.C. such as barns and attics in B.C. -- with the exception of Vancouver Island. B.C. is the northern limit of their range.

"Trying to locate the Townsend's maternity roosts was tough," said Hill, who works with Reid as a student biologist with the Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program.

The pair used computer modeling, plus local knowledge, to map out the bats' potential range in the West Kootenays.

Then they caught female bats in nets and attached half-gram transmitters to their backs.

"The transmitters were designed to come off in less than a week, so it was always a race against time to initially track them from the air and then do a ground search for the maternity colonies," Hill said.

Hill and Reid found four colonies, one in an abandoned building and three in caves.

They presented the results of their work at the 35th Annual North American Symposium on Bat Research in Sacramento, Calif.

"Bat experts from around all over North America were truly surprised by our discovery," Reid said. "This work changes people's thinking about how Townsend's big-eared bats roost and will, perhaps, influence conservation efforts down the road."

ebaron@png.canwest.com
© The Vancouver Province 2005