I hope a bat expert or two shimes in. I have a little paperback titled: The Bats of British Columbia. It pretty much covers the bats of Washington also. One species it could have been is the Silver Haired Bat. I don't know how large your bats were. But it is a medium sized bat and flies straight. I had a close encounter with one many years ago in Bellingham, which got me to buying the book I mentioned.

Best

Phil Hotlen
Bellingham, WA


----- Original Message -----
From: "jeff gibson" <gibsondesign at msn.com>
To: "tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2011 10:46:08 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Big Bats in Everett


I live in North Everett ,in what is commonly known as a "nice" neighborhood. A bit too manicured (too many lawns, not enough trees) for my taste. Yet wildlife comes through somehow - the greater area is surrounded by better habitat. My yard is a well treed and buggy blemish on this perfect little world.

One critter we aint got a lot of is Bats. At least as far as I've noticed in 10 years here. Over the years I have seen a few "Little Brown Bats" (I presume) out in the alley at dusk during the high Mosquito season (a bit off this wet year). But not many.

Friday night I was given the job of taking my (wife's) dog out to chase ball's in our little neighborhood park next door. It was a beautiful warm sunny evening. The first thing I did was fall asleep on the couch, and by the time I woke up it was dusk. Then out with the dog and got in a few ball throws in the gathering gloom. As we walked up the alley I was thrilled to see a bat ! Then another. I realized that these were not the "Little Brown Bats" (myotis ) that I'm familiar with. These were quite a bit larger - about the size of a swallow. And fast. Instead of the fluttery, twisty flight of the little bats, these guys flew in broad arcs - also somewhat swallow-like. They flew mostly about 30 feet up, sometimes coming down low as my head.

Also interesting was that the two bats spent much of the time I watched them following one another - spaced about three feet apart. They would separate briefly, cruising around the tall trees in my yard, then come together again. This was about 9:30 pm, the sky still a bit light in the NW. I watched them for about 5 minutes, then they disappeared. It was exactly the same scenario tonight - 5 minutes of seeing them at the same time, then gone. Pretty cool.

Is there a Batman or Batwoman out there in tweeterland that might have an idea of which species I might have seen ?

Jeff Gibson
Batty in North Everett Wa



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