Lillooet

Contact us

Vivian Birch-Jones,
Lillooet Naturalists Society
250 256-4062
vivianbj@telus.net

www.lillooetnaturalistsociety.org

Vivian Birch-Jones coordinates the Lillooet Community Bat Program on behalf of the Lillooet Naturalists Society

Download the Lillooet Naturalists Society Bats Brochure to learn more about bats in the Lillooet area.

A bit about bats in Lillooet…

Many BC bats find roosts and shelters in tree cavities, crevices, exfoliating bark, or foliage; typically selecting the largest available old-growth trees and snags.

Most bat species will move frequently among several roosts to adjust for seasonal changes in weather and in response to disturbances.  When foraging or traveling, bats prefer to fly along habitat edges, with most activity concentrated in wetlands, riparian zones or within natural openings in forested areas. 

Table 1: Summary of bats in the Lillooet area, British Columbiaa

BC Bat Species

Lillooet area status

Provincial Status

 

Habitat comments

 

California Myotis

Confirmed

Yellow

Arid grasslands; montane forests; roosts in spaces under the bark of trees, tree cavities and mine adits

Western Small-footed Myotis

Confirmed

Blue

Cliffs and rock outcrops in arid valleys; roosts in small caves and abandoned mine adits; overwinters

Western Long-eared Myotis

Confirmed

Yellow

Arid grasslands and ponderosa pine forests and montane forests; often found at higher elevations; roosts under bark of trees, caves, mine adits; consumes spiders and insects

Keen’s Long-eared  Myotis

Unconfirmed

Red

A rare coastal species that relies on temperate old-growth rainforest to survive

Little Brown Myotis

Confirmed

Yellow

Arid grasslands, ponderosa pine and boreal forest; roosts in tree cavities, caves and under the bark of trees

Northern Long-eared Myotis

Unconfirmed

Blue

Some recent records from Cariboo in areas of dense coniferous forests and mixed aspen spruce

Fringed Myotis

Confirmed

Blue

Deserts, arid grasslands and dry forests of ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir; roosting habits unknown

Long-legged Myotis

Confirmed

Yellow

Arid rangelands, montane forests; roosts under bark of trees, snags and in mine tunnels

Yuma Myotis

Confirmed

Yellow

Ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir forests and arid grasslands; roosts in caves and trees

Eastern Red Bat

Confirmed

Unknown

Very little information available for BC, riparian species that roosts in foliage.  Hangs by one foot looking like a leaf. 

Hoary Bat

Confirmed

Yellow

Arboreal habitat generalist; roosts in coniferous and deciduous trees, tree cavities; migratory

Silver-haired Bat

Confirmed

Yellow

Forest and grassland; roosts under bark of trees, cavities, and tree truck crevices; may overwinter and has been noted to hibernate in a Douglas-fir snag – most migrate south. Especially vulnerable to deforestation and snag removal

Big Brown Bat

Confirmed

Yellow

Arid grassland and forests; roosts in dead ponderosa pines; may overwinter in BC

Spotted Bat

Confirmed

Blue

Arid desert and grasslands, open ponderosa pine forests, hayfields and marshes adjacent to lakes; roosts in crevices of steep cliff faces; little known about winter biology

Townsend’s Big-eared Bat

Confirmed

Blue

Arid grasslands and coniferous forests; roosts in limestone caves and mine adits; in Canada restricted to BC; overwinters in BC

Pallid Bat

Unknown / 2012 possible acoustics

Red

Arid desert and ponderosa pine forests adjacent to cliff faces; roosts in tree cavities (preference for ponderosa pines), caves, mine adits and crevices in cliffs; hunts over open grasslands with big sage and rabbit brush

aPrepared by V. Birch-Jones and K.G. Wright of Lillooet BC, Feb. 2002, for MSRM for Lillooet LRMP. Updated Nov. 2002 with comments from Leah Ramsay, Program Zoologist, BC Conservation Data Centre, and Lisa Wilkinson, Regional Endangered Species Specialist, Alta. Fish and Wildlife Service. Updated Aug 2010 Mike Sarell RPBio. and Jared Hobbs MSc. RPBio. Updated Aug 2012 Ed West PhD. Monitoring for Pallid Bat in progress – summer / autumn 2014.

Updated March 2015 with acoustic confirmation of Eastern Red Bat – Dr. Cori Lausen.