Batty

Right off the bat I am letting you know this is not about me personally. LOL

In the spring I talk with the Forest Service about what they would like to focus on. Last year it was the Frosted Elfins. This year it was plants and few other odds and ends. So one of things was to keep my eyes out for the Tricolored Bat (Perimyotis subflavus). First I will let you know I have seen the occasional bat fly pass the house. However I had no earthly idea what kind. Furthermore I have never seen one roosting around here in Wise County.

So when I went to Lake Mineral Wells State Park I saw that someone had a monitoring device in the park. Maybe that could do the job here I thought. Well, I just assumed it would be very expensive.

So all you had to do was plug into the phone. Then we were ready to “hear” the bats! The device picks up the bats echolocation calls. And the software auto-ID the recordings to give you a suggested species. Sounds cool, eh.

After supper around 6pm off the front porch we pointed it up. Fingers crossed. We were really surprised that it picked up calls so early. We left it recording until about 10ish on the nights we recorded.

Here was our list.

Home and Cottonwood Lake list (Wise County):

1. Eumops perotis (Western mastiff) Greater Bonneted Bat
2. Lasiurus borealis (Eastern red)
3. Lasiurus cinereus (Hoary)
4. Lasiurus ega (Southern yellow)
5. Lasiurus intermedius (Northern yellow)
6. Lasiurus seminolus (Seminole)
7. Lasiurus xanthinus (Western yellow
8. Myotis ciliolabrum (Western Small-footed)
9. Nyctinomops femorosaccus (Pocketed free-tailed)
10. Nycticeius humeralis (Evening)
11. Nyctinomops macrotis (Big free-tailed)
12. ****Perimyotis subflavus (Tricolored)
13. Tadarida brasiliensis (Mexican free-tailed)

Indeed it was certainly a big surprise to see that there are so many species right here in our own yard according to the auto-ID! Awesome! However these species have not been verified. So even if only several of the species are truly here it is pretty darn cool. Certainly I will keep you updated.

The above photos are stills from this mp4. The mp4 was recorded in our back field.

Currently more than 15 bat species are currently listed as federally endangered, threatened or under review in the candidate or petition process under the Endangered Species Act. More than 200 bat species in 60 countries around the world are considered threatened (Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable) by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

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Keep looking!

The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know