Bats
Photo credit: Kootenay Community Bat Project
About Bats
Bats are small, furry mammals with long, thin wings and large ears. They are generally between 6 and 10cm long but their wingspan can be up to 27cm. Bats are not blind, but they do use echolocation to navigate at night.
did you know?
A single bat can eat up to 1,200 mosquito-sized insects every hour. They forage for insects over the pond and open spaces at Idlewild park.
BC has the greatest diversity of bats in all of Canada and they are protected under the BC Wildlife Act. Bat species detected at Idlewild include big brown bat, silver-haired bat, hoary bat, Yuma myotis, little brown myotis, and long-eared myotis.
Bats face many threats including habitat loss, climate change and a disease called white-nose syndrome which has decimated bat populations in North America.
They need mature forests, wetlands, and undisturbed hibernation sites (e.g., cliffs, caves) for survival. The rocket boxes at Idlewild Park provide a warm, dry, and safe place for bats to roost. Each rocket box has the potential to house two to three hundred bats, depending on the species using them.
