Don C. asked -

>>>>>>>
I have had what I believe to be a Townsend's Big-eared Bat spending the
occasional day in my tool shed. It is most often found suspended from the
ceiling and it has always been found alone. I believe it is a male due in part to
its solitary nature and secondly I recall having read something about the shape of
some part of the ear that was a clue to sex. I have taken slides of the bat that
are as of yet undeveloped. I am curious to know more about this species but have
found very little literature. I understand that this species reaches its
northernmost (known) limit of its range here on mid-Vancouver Island. I was
particularly surprised to note that it was still present as recent as Sept. 19.
My understanding is that this is a migratory species however I do not have any
dates offered for migration times.

>>>>>

Don, your best bet is to contact Dave Nagorsen at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria.
He is the bat expert in the province. According to his book "Bats of B.C." which
he wrote with Mark Brigham in 1993 (highly recommended - ISBN 0-7748-0482-3),
there are records for this species as far north as near Williams Lake. And this is
one of the few of B.C's 16 bat species which hibernates in B.C. The closest
hibernaculum to you is on Thetis Island, with a more famous one just inside of the
old copper mine shaft on the north shore of Kamloops Lake. Winter cold spell
temperatures at this site often fall to -4 Celsius!

- Jack


Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
jcbowling at mindlink.bc.ca