Alberta Community Bat Program/Western Bat Program 🦇

Front cover of the Bat-Friendly Communities Guidebook with the Alberta Community Bat Program updated July 14, 2023. Image of a Little Brown Myotis roosting on bark with a green background by Jason Headley.

🦇🌎Just a reminder that our "Bat-Friendly Communities Guidebook" is a free download from our website. It is packed with great info about our bats, the habitats they need, threats they face &actions YOU can take to help bats. #AppendixHasAPlantList #BatsNeedFriends

www.albertabats.ca/wp-content/u...

In this case, it may not be that it is dormant but rather that the test being used was not as sensitive as it needed to be to detect presence. The initial tests were for hibernation sites (with strong signals). When sampling at roosts, the signal is much more faint (if that makes sense)?

New genomic research from western Canada detected Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) in bat guano & wing swabs - results suggest that the fungus is more widespread than recognized and likely arrived in Alberta 2-5 years before its first report. Genetic analyses also show Pd is evolving and diversifying. Continued, enhanced surveillance is critical to track its spread and protect bat populations. Image of a bat wing under UV light showing orange patches of the fungus Pd growing and glowing. Logo WCS Canada Western Bat Program wcscanada.org/our-work/wildlife/bats/ Photo by Jason Headley.

#NewPaper! 🦇🌎🧪
"Metagenomic and Genomic Analyses Reveal Prevalent Spread and Evolution of the Bat White-Nose Pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans in Western Canada" (co-authored by our Alberta Program lead, Cory Olson). Collaboration has produced amazing results!

www.mdpi.com/2309-608X/12...

We just had an amazing presentation by one of our WCS colleagues who manage the archives - amazing stories of historical artists working with wildlife folks. We are going to go looking for more bat art! So many treasures! 🦇

We are big Rodrigo fans too! This was just great. ❤️

Lighting could affect use of bridges by bats. Likely they would avoid bridges with bright lighting that was shining on potential roost sites.

It really depends! In some places in California - they have added bat boxes under bridges for Mexican Free-tailed bats & it worked great! But we don't really know how well it would work in the northern States & Canada. Also, you would need permission to add structures to public infrastructure.

ack forgot the bat 🦇🌎🧪

Snip of the front page of the newest "Bats and Bridges" brochure from Wildlife Conservation Society Canada's Western Bat Program. A four page document that describes how bats use bridges, gives images of what to look for and provides advice on when to avoid activities (like bridge maintenance) at bridge sites.

#NewResource!
A product of our "Bats and Bridges" project - this short document provides guidance for bridge management & how to identify if bats are present. Lots of photos and some good guidance! #BatsNeedFriends #ResourceManagement #Infrastructure #Transportation

wcscanada.org/site/assets/...

Share a tv show that raised you.

‘The normal should be darkness’: why one Belgian national park is turning off ‘pointless’ streetlights The radical project is an attempt to preserve wildlife in one of Europe’s most light-polluted countries, but can they persuade local people they will still feel safe?

🦇🌎Another way to reduce the effects of light at night on bats & other nocturnal wildlife is to simply turn lights off! @darkskyintl.bsky.social invites people to use strategies to reduce light pollution (it can also disrupt human sleep patterns). Dark is good.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

A collage of Big Brown Bats in flight! Photos taken by Brock&Sherri Fenton.

🦇🌎🧪Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) can definitely affect bats. Some bat species are more sensitive than others. It would be good to do a test of this "red-lighting" in North America to see if our bats also benefit!
www.euronews.com/green/2026/0...

A very FULL bat box with both Little Brown and Yuma Myotis from the lower mainland of British Columbia. Photo by John Saremba. Text reads Happy Family Day! Logo WCS Canada Alberta Community Bat Program.

Photo of Vampyrum spectrum - the Spectral Bat showing a group of bats roosting together. Photo by Leonardo Alava Contreras from iNaturalist.

Happy Family Day! 🦇 In most bat species, “family” means groups of moms, each raising a single pup and clustering together to stay warm so babies can grow and fledge in 4–5 weeks. But Spectral Bats are different - mom and dad raise young together, and even “hug” at the roost! ❤

Photo of a roosting Heart nose Bat (Cardioderma cor) by Nik Borrow from iNaturalist. Bat is alert and looking forwards at the camera showing off its "noseleaf" which is shaped like a heart. Found in eastern Sudan, north Tanzania, and south Zambia. They will listen for echolocation calls of smaller bat species and hunt them for supper!

Special for Valentines Day - Cardioderma cor, the Heart-nosed Bat from central Africa! Eater of insects & small mammals, these bats are monogamous. They also "sing" likely to advertise territory but also for social reasons. The only species in this genus! ❤️-👃🦇#HappyValentinesDay

Old timey valentine with a bat wearing a jaunty hap in flight with red hearts and sparkles behind - text read s "I'm BATTY over You, Valentine"

Happy Valentine's Day! Wishing you a day of love - and that includes a love of nature! Whether you’re flying solo or roosting together, happy Valentine’s Day! ❤🦇🦇

Image by Lindsey Wallis of the Alberta Wilderness Association - bat walk in the Weaselhead in Calgary, Alberta - shows people on a bridge with bat detectors listening for bats overlooking a pond area with a pretty sunset and trees in the background. Remarkable as this is right in the city of Calgary. Above the crowd is an embedded image of a flying bat by Brock&Sherri Fenton with "echolocation" lines emanating from the front of the bat to show that the bat is echolocating! Text reads "Nature is not a place to visit, it is home." by Gary Snyder. Logo WCS Canada Alberta Community Bat Program albertabats.ca

Start seeing your property as habitat. What are you doing to support native ecology? Plant native trees and plants to help local wildlife - even in the city. Skip pesticides. Replace some lawn with native plants (and lower your water bill!). Turn off outdoor lights in summer. Small steps matter. 🦇🏡🌿

Best practice for bat houses is installing 3 or more boxes close together, with different sun exposure or colours to create varied microclimates. Using a FLIR infrared camera, we see zones & heat clusters where bats roost. Watch and you’ll spot the “hot” bats dropping out as they head off to hunt 🦇✨

DYK that dead bats are sold as trinkets around the world? Our colleagues published recently about the negative impacts this trade has had on bat populations and the need for better, enforced legislation. 🦇🌎🧪

They aren't all so cooperative! LOL! But this is a good question!

the Latin names are so much better for bats!

Photo of a juvenile little brown myotis by Cory Olson - up close, sitting on a white gloved hand. Text reads: Happy Baturday, Little Brown Myotis, Endangered, North American-wide distribution Logo WCS Canada Alberta Community Bat Program albertabats.ca

🦇 Little Brown Bats are widespread across North America. "Myotis" is the genus they belong to (Myotis lucifugus) and it means "mouse-eared". It is still correct to call them a Little Brown Bat - using "Myotis" is just a little more descriptive.

Thank you! This switch in focus from caves to crevice habitat for overwintering bats is a change for bat biologists too! And a lot of us are just realizing a) we've been missing the mark and b) this is going to be challenging to find them!

Hibernation - crevice roosts are important (The Roost Report #007 ) - Alberta Community Bat Program Finding hibernation sites for bats is challenging! Typical overwintering habitat has been caves but crevice habitat may be more important than we thought.

Our latest issue of "The Roost Report" is out! You can find it here www.albertabats.ca/hibernation-...
Learn about bat hibernation habitat and the challenges we have had finding out where bats go in the winter! 🦇🧪🌎🦊

We had a whole thread like this on "that other site". We should start it up again. There are so many great names for bat in other languages!

Photo of a Silver-haired Bat by Jason Headley - Text reads Winter is when we plan new field work! albertabats.ca Logo WCS Canada Alberta Community Bat Program - four icons in upper left corner - acoustic analysis (microphone), DNA collection (Strand of DNA), netting and capture (net), wing swabbing (swab).

January was a little quiet online… because we were very loud behind the scenes 🦇
Grant writing, project planning, and gearing up for a season of bat netting, DNA analysis, and acoustic monitoring.
Big things are coming—stay tuned. #SameBatChannel

Thank you! We love to see that people care!

a person is holding a piece of paper that says yes definitely and absolutely !!! ALT: a person is holding a piece of paper that says yes definitely and absolutely !!!

we concur!

A collage of big Brown Bats in flight! Photos by Brock&Sherri Fenton

He is amazingly generous in sharing his photos! We hope every image cultivates a new bat friend! #BatsNeedFriends 🦇

🦇🌎🧪for those looking for it - here is the link to the op-ed. This is a call to action for all supporters of informed, sustainable wildlife and wildlife habitat management! This call is particular to British Columbia - but the tenets are true everywhere.