Inventory of bats using Department of National Defense lands at the Vernon Military Camp, Vernon B.C. and Chilcotin Training Area, Riske Creek B.C., Carried out under Permit VI11-71705 By Douglas W. Burles Kaisun Ecological Consulting 1038 Pine Springs Road Kamloops, B.C. V2B 8A8 January 18, 2012
Introduction The primary goal of this project was to gather information on the presence and site usage of bat species that are either federally or provincially listed as species at risk on some lands managed by the Department of National Defense (DND) in British Columbia. Specifically, previous natural resource inventories had identified the potential for the provincially red-listed Pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus) and blue-listed Spotted bat (Euderma maculatum), Townsend s big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii), Fringed myotis (Myotis thysanodes), and Western small-footed Myotis (Myotis ciliolabrum) to occur at the Vernon Military Camp in the Southern Interior region of BC (Sarell, 2001; Nagorsen and Brigham, 1993). Spotted bat, Townsend s big-eared bat, Western small-footed myotis, could also potentially occur at the Chilcotin Training Area in the Central Interior region. DND plans to use the information gathered to assist in assessing potential impacts of military activities on these species. Study area The Vernon Military Camp (VMC) is located directly south of the city of Vernon, British Columbia, in the Thompson Okanagan region. The training area can be accessed from Highway 97 and Mission Road, and is approximately 309 ha. The majority of the property is grassland with a number of small rock outcrops and one larger cliff. There are no permanent water structures on the property but Kalamalka is relatively close to the east, while Okanagan lies to the west. The Chilcotin Training Area (CTA) is located approximately 50 km west of Williams, British Columbia, in the Caribou-Chilcotin Coast Region. It is accessed by turning north off Highway 20 at Riske Creek and driving north approximately 5 km. The CTA is 40,734 ha in size and contains diverse habitats from lakes and wetlands to forest and grasslands. Much of the forest consists of second growth stands however, with few snags. Most of the training area is above 1000 m ASL, and as such, experiences considerable cooler night temperatures than the adjacent valleys. Both study sites are managed by the Department of National Defense.
Materials and Methods All bat capture and handling procedures followed the protocols set out in BC RISC manual #20 Inventory Methods for Bats (1998) and the guidelines set out in White-Nose Syndrome Alert - BC Bat Conservation Fact Sheet No. 1 (Anon. 2009). Mist nets were set up at dusk, and only opened after birds had stopped flying. Nets were checked at intervals of every 10 minutes or less. Bats caught in nets were removed as quickly as possible in order to minimize their getting tangled, and were placed in cloth bags (one bat per bag). Bats were held until the nets were closed (usually 1-2 hours after capture). Each bat was sexed and aged (by determining the degree of ossification of wing bones), and standard physical measurements (mass, and forearm, ear and tragus lengths) were taken. Pregnancy of females was determined by gently palpating the abdomen for a fetus, while lactating females were identified by the presence of bare skin around the nipples and the extrusion of milk when the nipple was gently pressed. Post lactating females were identified by the presence of new hair growing in around the nipples and the absence of milk being produced. Species identification was based on descriptions in Bats of B.C. (Nagorsen and Brigham, 1993). Little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) and Yuma myotis (M. yumanensis), which are morphologically very similar, were initially differentiated by forearm length. Their identity was confirmed by analysis of recordings of their echolocation calls. Little brown myotis calls have a low characteristic frequency (fc) in the 38 44 Khz range, while Yuma myotis have an fc in the 46-53 Khz range (Weller et al., 2007; Echolocation Call Characteristics of Pacific Northwest Bats, WWW.Sonobat.com). Captured bats were released within range of recording equipment in order to obtain recordings of their echolocation calls. Recordings were made directly to a laptop computer using Batsound Pro 3.31b software (Petterson Electronik, Upsala, Sweden), and a Petterson D240X bat detector connected to the computer through a Petterson F2000 control/filter unit. The equipment was set to record for 40 seconds per session so that multiple recordings could be made if the bat circled in the area of the recording equipment. A few bats were flown on a tether line in an effort to get recordings that were more representative of free-flying bats. A tether line is a 3 4 m. length of elastic thread with a noose tied in one end that can be placed around the bat s neck. The bat is then guided by the tether line to fly in circles around the bat detector/recording system. Bats were flown on a tether for a maximum 3 times (less than 2 minutes total) before being released.
All bats were released on the same night of capture at least one hour before dawn so they had time to forage before returning to their day roost. The recordings obtained were analyzed using Sonobat 2.9.5 (DNDesigns, Arcata, California, USA) and Batsound Pro to determine maximum and minimum frequencies, low characteristic frequency (the lowest frequency of the predominant trend of the call, just before call makes a sudden downward drop), pulse duration, inter-call intervals, frequency of maximum amplitude (i.e. frequency with the most energy), and slope of the call. Microsoft Excel 2007 was used to carry out basic statistical calculations on the data generated. In order to supplement information gathered by mist netting efforts, bat activity was also passively monitored at a number of different locations in each study area using two Song meter SM2BAT full spectrum auto recording systems (Wildlife Acoustics, Concord, Mass.) equipped with ultrasonic omni-directional microphones. Both recording devices were programmed to record all sounds greater than 12 Khz so that they would be capable of recording Spotted bats (whose echolocation calls are in the 8 16 Khz range). They were set to record for 4 4 ½ hours each night beginning 40 minutes after civil sunset. Effective monitoring distance of these devices, which is limited by atmospheric conditions (eg. air temperature, relative humidity, wind, etc.) and sound frequency, varied from about 10 m for high frequency calls (>50 Khz) to 25 m or more for low frequency calls (<30 Khz), and up to 250 m for very low frequency calls (<15 Khz). The Song meter devices were programmed to store recordings as compressed files (.WAC) on compact flash cards within the unit. Compressed files were converted to.wav files and scrubbed (i.e. extraneous noises not attributable to bats were removed) using WAC2WAV 3.2.2 conversion software (WWW.Wildlife Acoustics.com). During this process WAC2WAV was programmed to eliminate all sounds less than 12 Khz and to split the 1 large file into multiple smaller.wav files, each representing up to 15 seconds of activity separated by a minimum of 2 seconds of silence. The resulting.wav files were then processed using SM2 Batch Compensator (WWW.Wildlife Acoustics.com) to make the files compatible with Sonobat software. The resulting files were analyzed using Sonobat to count the number of bat passes recorded in a given period of time (A bat pass was defined as a sequence of 2 or more calls of 1 individual separated from other call sequences by at least 2 seconds. In instances where 2
different bats could be detected in a single file, this was counted as 2 bat passes.). The number of bat passes/hour was then calculated for each session in order to determine relative bat activity. Weak or unusual files that could not be analyzed in Sonobat were viewed in Batsound Pro to get a better picture of the calls. For higher quality recordings, and particularly those that looked like they might be Spotted or long-eared bat calls, call parameters were measured and compared to published call characteristics for Pacific Northwest bats (Echolocation Call Characteristics of Pacific Northwest Bats, WWW.Sonobat.com) in an attempt to identify them to species. Some species, such as Spotted, Hoary, Silver-haired, Big brown and Townsend big-eared bats, can be identified with a fairly high level of certainty because they have distinctive echolocation calls. For others however, it is not possible to identify individual species because their calls are so similar. Californian and Yuma bats, for instance, have almost identical very high frequency calls, while Little brown, Small-footed and Long-legged bats have moderately high frequency calls that are similar to each other (although the latter sometimes adds an upsweep to the beginning of its call that is supposedly unique to this species). Fringed, Northern Long-eared and Long-eared bats all have very similar low intensity, extremely broadband echolocation calls, although differences in fc do allow for tentative identification of each. Because of this problem in identifying some species, as well as the extremely variable quality of recordings, I did not attempt to determine a relative frequency of occurrence for each species. Results Vernon Military Camp Field investigations were carried out at the VMC from August 2 nd to August 5 th. I set up mist nets at 3 locations that looked favourable for bat activity (Figure 1, Appendix 1). Song Meter bat detector/recorders (Song meters) were also set out at 5 different locations over the 3 nights of investigation (Figure 1, Appendix 2). One location, Abseil Cliff, was both mist netted on one night and passively monitored for two nights as this was a location where I thought that Spotted (Euderma maculatum), Pallid (Antrozous pallidus) or Fringed (Mytois thysanodes) bats could potentially roost.
Figure 1. Locations of mist netting efforts (yellow pins) and passive acoustic recording sessions (red pins) undertaken at the Vernon Military Camp during the period 2-4 August, 2011. Image courtesy of Google Earth.
I caught only 1 bat, an adult male Californian bat (Myotis californicus), during the 3 nights of mist netting (physical measurements of all bats captured are provided in Appendix 3). Capture success was thus 0.1 bats/net set, or 0.001 bats/hr/m 2 of net set. Although this capture was in front of Abseil Cliff, it is not likely that it was roosting in the cliff, as the Californian bat is a tree-roosting bat (Nagorsen and Brigham, 1993). There are a number of snags standing near the base of the cliff that may have served as a roost tree. The single bat captured was recorded on release in order to obtain representative echolocation calls for this species. Overall, the passive sampling sessions resulted in a total of 219 bat passes in 19.6 hrs of recording, for an average of 10.7 bat passes/hr. (It must be kept in mind that the number of bat passes recorded is only a broad indication of relative activity and not necessarily an accurate record of the number of bats flying in the area of the recording unit, as it does not take into account that some bats may turn around and fly past the microphone again a few seconds or minutes later.). The most bat activity was recorded in the area of Abseil Cliff (12.6 18.1 bat passes/hr) and near a small pond located along the southern boundary of the VMC (22.1 bat passes/hr). Very little bat activity was recorded in the grasslands (2.5 5.5 bat passes/hr). The first bat activity of the night was recorded approximately 40 minutes after sunset at Abseil Cliff. Elsewhere, the first bats did not appear until 50 55 minutes after sunset. From the earlier appearance of bats at Abseil Cliff I infer that some bats may have been roosting either in the cliff or else in trees close by, although I did not observe any bats to fly out from the cliff. The later appearance of bats around the pond and in the grasslands indicates that they likely commuted a considerable distance to get to these sites. A small proportion of the recordings were of sufficient quality that I could compare them with either published reference recordings or with recordings that we obtained from bats captured in the study area. In this way I was able to tentatively identify a number of species as likely being present. Silver-haired bats were recorded at all sites sampled in the VMC and appeared to be a relatively common bat in the area. Hoary bats were identified at 4 of the 5 sites sampled, and Big brown bats were identified at 2 sites. Two of the recordings at site 5 in the grasslands and 1 from Abseil Cliff were tentatively identified as being from a Long-eared bat (Myotis evotis). Many of the remaining recordings could only be identified to Myotis spp. because of similarities
in call structure of these species. No recordings resembled Pallid, Spotted or Townsend s big eared bat calls. Chilcotin Training Area I carried out field investigations at the CTA from August 6 th to August 15 th. August 7 th was a day of reconnaissance to search for potential netting sites, while on the following 7 nights we set up nets at 5 locations and set out Song meters at 15 locations (Figures 2 and 3, Appendices 1 and 2). One location (the west end of Drummond ) was mist netted on a 2nd night because of the relative abundance and diversity of bats observed there, while at a second site (an old cabin on the east side of Callanan ) my first attempt was thwarted by adverse weather conditions. Song meters were placed in a variety of habitats, including in the vicinity of the cliff of the Dome. This latter site was chosen in spite of its high elevation, because it appeared to be the only place in the CTA where Spotted bats could potentially roost. Temperatures at the CTA were generally cooler than at the VMC, with temperatures at sunset ranging from 16 o C down to 10 o C. On 3 nights, temperatures dropped below 10 o C by midnight, which may have negatively influenced bat activity. These cool temperatures were in marked contrast to those of adjacent lower elevations, especially along the nearby Fraser River, where night temperatures were consistently 5 o C 10 o C warmer than in the CTA (D. Burles, unpublished data). I captured 14 bats at 3 different sites, all of which were adults. Twelve were Little brown bats of which 6 were male, 4 were non-reproductive females, and one was a post-lactating female. One escaped before it could be examined. The remaining 2 captures were Big brown bats, both of which were male. Overall capture success was 0.5 bats/net set, or 0.002 bats/hr/m 2 of net set. I recorded the echolocation calls of 13 of the 14 bats captured; 11 produced recordings of sufficient quality to be analyzed. These recordings were used as a reference for the analysis of recordings made by the Song meters. The Song meters recorded a total of 1014 bat passes over 56.4 hrs, or an average of 18.0 bat passes/hr. These recordings show that, while bats were present in all areas sampled in the CTA, they were not evenly distributed geographically. Relative bat activity varied from a low of 1.1
Figure 2. Locations of mist netting efforts (yellow pins) undertaken in the Chilcotin Training Area during the period 6-15 August, 2011. Image courtesy of Google Earth.
Figure 3. Locations of passive acoustic recording sessions (red pins) undertaken in the Chilcotin Training Area during the period 6-15 August, 2011. Image courtesy of Google Earth.
bat passes/hr in the regenerating Aspen Pine forest south of Drummond (site R 17) to a high of 49.0 bat passes/hr on the west side of Fish (site R 12). In general, the more open grasslands and young regenerating forests did not support much bat activity. Rather, bats seemed to prefer the older-age forests and lakeshores. Approximately 2/3 of the bat passes recorded in the CTA identified as Myotis spp. Most resembled those of little brown myotis, but a single recording was identified as being possibly that of a Long-legged bat (Myotis volans). Approximately 25% of the recordings, resembled calls of Silver-haired bats or Big brown bats. Nineteen bat passes with extremely broadband calls were recorded at 6 locations: they were tentatively identified as being Long-eared bats. Hoary bats were also recorded at 5 locations. It is interesting to note that the Song meter placed near the cliff at the Dome, in spite of this being the highest point in the CTA, recorded more bat activity than the grasslands and pine regenerations sites in the southern portion of the CTA. Of the 20 bat passes recorded here, 19 were classified as Little brown myotis, while the 20 th was a Silver-haired bat. No Spotted, Fringed and Townsend s big-eared bats were detected at any locations within the CTA. Discussion Vernon Military Camp Early August is generally considered to be an ideal time of year for conducting bat research, as it is a time when bat activity should be at a seasonal high. At this time of year, reproductive females are still around maternity colonies and are foraging aggressively to keep up with the demands of feeding young. Many juveniles have also just become volant, which adds significantly to the number of bats flying at night. My very low capture success combined with the low level of bat activity recorded by my acoustic recorders both suggest that few bats were using the VMC in August, 2011. Further, my failure to capture any bats in reproductive condition, or newly volant juveniles provides evidence that there are no maternity colonies in the immediate vicinity.
The only 2 locations where bats were present in numbers were in front of Abseil Cliff and around the pond along the southern boundary of the VMC. The former site appears to be an ideal location for cliff roosting bats such as Spotted and Pallid bats, although, at 665 m, it is nearing the upper limit of 700 m reported for Pallid bats in BC (Nagorsen and Brigham, 1993). I did not see any large bats flying in front of the cliff however, on the night I mist netted there, nor did I record any of their calls during the 2 nights a Song meter was deployed in front of the cliff. I expected the pond site to attract bats from all over, as it appeared to be the only source of water in the immediate area (although there are 2 very large water bodies in the nearby valleys), but even this pond did not seem to draw many bats. In fact, its location down low amongst high hills seemed to act as a sink for cold air at night. Bat activity seemed to be particularly low in the grasslands, which make up much of the VMC. This is likely due to the lack of suitable day roosts in this habitat for most bats, and to the relative absence of insect prey due to its dryness. The open nature of the grasslands may also result in greater exposure to avian predators. Previous researchers found evidence of bats using 3 warehouses on the VMC (Sarell et al. 2004), but these buildings were not investigated during this study. They also reported that bats were roosting in the nearby Vernon Visitor Information Centre, but the Visitor Information Attendants working there could not confirm whether they were still present or not. If bats were occupying any of these buildings, the low level of bat activity I experienced suggests that they were not foraging on the VMC. Through mist netting efforts, I was only able to confirm the presence of 1 species, a Californian bat captured in front of Abseil Cliff. Passive acoustic monitoring provided additional evidence that Silver-haired, Hoary bats, Big brown and Long-eared bats were also foraging in the area. Californian, Silver-haired and Hoary bats were not likely roosting in the cliff however, as all are considered to be tree roosting bats. Big brown and Long-eared bats, on the other hand, generally roost in rock crevices, so they may well have been using the cliff as a roost. A small number of calls recorded in the grasslands were tentatively identified as being that of a Long-eared bat. Long-eared bats are known to roost solitarily or in small colonies in small cliffs and boulder fields (Chruszyz and Barclay, 2002), so it is possible that a few of these bats were roosting in one of the small rock outcrops found in the grasslands, or at Abseil Cliff. I found no evidence that Pallid, Spotted, Fringed or Townsend s big eared bats were present on the VMC.
Chilcotin Training Area Although up to 12 bat species have previously been found in the Williams area, I found evidence for only 7 species being present during this study. Two of these I was able to confirm by capture, Little brown myotis and Big brown bat. Little brown myotis appeared to be the most common bat in the CTA, making up 12 of 14 bats captured. The majority of bat passes recorded also had characteristics that were consistent with this species. Silver-haired and Hoary bats were also identified on the basis of their distinctive echolocation calls as being present. Long legged, Long-eared and Californian bats were tentatively identified as being present on the basis of their somewhat less distinctive calls. The possible presence of a Californian bat is of interest, as according to Bats of B.C. (Nagorsen and Brigham, 1993), it has not previously been found in the Williams area. The Californian bat is a very hardy bat however, and is likely capable of surviving in this region, so its presence should not be unexpected. Of relevance to this study, no evidence of Spotted, Fringed, or Townsend s big-eared bats was recorded. The high proportion of males captured, the complete absence of juveniles among the captures at a time when they should have been abundant, and the capture of only one reproductive female all provide evidence that few, if any, bats are breeding in the CTA. Given that the one reproductive female was already post-lactating, even she could have raised her young elsewhere and only recently migrated into the CTA. This absence of breeding bats should not be all that unexpected, given that during my investigation, I found the nights there to be considerably cooler than adjacent valleys, and on 3 nights I recorded ambient temperatures below 10 o C. Thus, although much of the CTA is forest covered and water is abundant, it does not appear to be favourable habitat for bats. Much of it has been logged in the recent past, and the regenerating forest lacks snags that could serve as day roosts. Also, virtually all it is above 1000 M elevation, which is considerably higher than some bats (e.g. Yuma, Fringed, Western small-footed, Spotted and Pallid bats) have ever been found in B.C. (Nagorsen and Brigham, 1993; Sarell, 2004; Pallid Bat Recovery Team, 2008). During the period of this study this higher elevation resulted in temperatures that were much cooler than adjacent lowlands, and night temperatures that were cool enough to negatively influence both insect and bat activity. Given that a number of bat species (eg. Townsend s big-eared, Spotted, Fringed, Yuma and Western small-footed bats) are
at the northern limits of their range in the Williams area, it would thus be likely that their distribution would be limited to more favourable lowland habitats. Their occurrence within the CTA then, would seem unlikely. Literature cited Anon. 1998. BC RISC manual #20 Inventory Methods for Bats. 36 pp. available at: http://archive.ilmb.gov.bc.ca/risc/pubs/tebiodiv/index.htm. Anon. 2008. Recovery Strategy for the Pallid Bat (Antrozous pallidus) in British Columbia. Prepared by the Pallid Bat Recovery Team. 26 pp. Available at: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/recoveryplans/rcvry1.htm>. Anon. 2009. White-Nose Syndrome Alert - BC Bat Conservation Fact Sheet No. 1. 4 pp. available at: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/conserve/animals/wns_factsheet_bc_2009.pdf. Anon. 2009. Echolocation call characteristics of pacific Northwest Bats. 3 pp. Available at: www.sonobat.com Chruszyz, B. J. and R.M.R. Barclay, 2002. Thermoregulatory ecology of a solitary bat, Myotis evotis, roosting in rock crevices. Functional Ecology 16: 18-26. Nagorsen, D.W. and R.M. Brigham, 1993. Bats of British Columbia. UBC Press. 164 pp. Sarell, M. and S. Rasheed, 2004. Fringed myotis, Myotis thysanodes. Accounts and Measures for managing Identified Wildlife. 7 pp. Available at: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/frpa/iwms/documents/mammals/m_fringedmyotis.pdf Sarell, M.J., C. Siddle and C. Williamson, 2004. Identification of Residency and Survival Habitats for Species at Risk at the Vernon Military Camp in British Columbia. Unpublished report to Department of National Defence. 28 pp.
Weller, T.J., S.A. Scott, T.J. Rodhouse, P.C. Ormsbee and J.M. Zinck, 2007. Field identification of the cryptic vespertilionid bats, Myotis lucifugus and M. yumanensis, Acta Chiropterlogica 9(1): 133-147.
Appendix 1 Summary of mist netting locations and capture success at the Vernon Military Camp and the Chilcotin Training Area, during August, 2011. Map numbers refer to locations shown in Figures 1 and 2 in the report.
Map # Date Location Zone Easting Northing Habitat elevation (m) # bats captured # species captured Capture success/m 2 /hr N 1 02-Aug-11 VMC-Abseil Cliff 11U 335634 5566142 cliff face 665 1 1 0.002 N 2 03-Aug-11 VMC- pond at south end N 3 04-Aug-11 VMC-gully near rifle range N 4 08-Aug-11 CTA-west end Drummond 11U 336095 5566031 grasslands near pond 608 0 0 0.000 11U 336217 5566276 grasslands 591 0 0 0.000 10U 529586 5766881 swamp, creek and lakeshore N 5 09-Aug-11 CTA-Pauline meadow 10U 529580 5770464 meadow and small creek N 6 10-Aug-11 CTA-west of Fish 10U 529587 5773027 sedge meadow and lakeshore N 7 11-Aug-11 CTA-old cabin on east side of Callanan N 8 12-Aug-11 CTA-old cabin on east side of Callanan N 9 13-Aug-11 CTA-west end Drummond N 10 14-Aug-11 CTA-between Callanan and Fish s 10U 530226 5775179 cabin, meadow and lakeshore 10U 530226 5775179 cabin, meadow and lakeshore 10U 529586 5766881 swamp, creek and lakeshore 10U 529585 5774064 creek, beaver dam and lakeshore 1008 3 1 0.003 1023 0 0 0.000 1010 0 0 0.000 1004 0 0 0.000 1004 6 1 0.005 1008 4 2 0.004 1023 1 0 0.001
Appendix 2 Summary of locations, species and physical measurements for bats captured at the Vernon Military Camp, Vernon, B.C. and the Chilcotin Training Area near Riske Creek, B.C.
Bat ID# Date Location UTM Zone Easting Northing Scientific Name 110802-01 02-Aug-11 VMC-Abseil Cliff 11U 335634 5566142 Myotis californicus 110808-01 08-Aug-11 CTA-west end Drummond (Island) 110808-02 08-Aug-11 CTA-west end Drummond (Island) 110808-03 08-Aug-11 CTA-west end Drummond (Island) 110812-01 12-Aug-11 CTA-east Callanan old cabin 110812-02 12-Aug-11 CTA-east Callanan old cabin 110812-03 12-Aug-11 CTA-east Callanan old cabin 110812-04 12-Aug-11 CTA-east Callanan old cabin 110812-05 12-Aug-11 CTA-east Callanan old cabin 110812-06 12-Aug-11 CTA-east Callanan old cabin 110813-01 13-Aug-11 CTA-west end Drummond (Island) 110813-02 13-Aug-11 CTA-west end Drummond (Island) 110813-03 13-Aug-11 CTA-west end Drummond (Island) 110813-04 13-Aug-11 CTA-west end Drummond (Island) 110814-01 14-Aug-11 CTA-south end Callanan 10U 529586 5766881 Myotis lucifugus 10U 529586 5766881 Myotis lucifugus 10U 529586 5766881 Myotis lucifugus 10U 530226 5775179 Myotis lucifugus 10U 530226 5775179 Myotis lucifugus 10U 530226 5775179 Myotis lucifugus 10U 530226 5775179 Myotis lucifugus 10U 530226 5775179 Myotis lucifugus 10U 530226 5775179 Myotis lucifugus 10U 529586 5766881 Myotis lucifugus 10U 529586 5766881 Eptesicus fuscus 10U 529586 5766881 Eptesicus fuscus 10U 529586 5766881 Myotis lucifugus 10U 529585 5774064 Myotis lucifugus
Appendix 2 (cont.) Age (Adult or Juvenile) Gender (M or F) Bat ID# Capture Time Reproductive Status 110802-01 2230 A M testes not descended 110808-01 2130 A M testes not descended 110808-02 2140 A M testes not descended Forearm Length (mm) Weight (grams) Ear length (mm) 32.8 5.2 11.5 36.4 7.2 11.0 34.3 6.6 11.0 110808-03 2230 A M testes not 38.5 9.7 11.0 descended 110812-01 2135 A M testes not 38.0 7.6 12.0 descended 110812-02 2140 A M testes not 36.2 7.4 12.0 descended 110812-03 2140 A F Nonreproductive 36.7 7.8 11.5 110812-04 2150 unk. Unk. Unk. Unk. Unk. Unk. 110812-05 2235 A F Nonreproductive 37.8 8.2 12.0 110812-06 0005 A F Post lactating 36.4 8.6 11.5 110813-01 2115 A M testes not descended 110813-02 2120 A M testes not descended 110813-03 2140 A M testes not descended 110813-04 2230 A F Nonreproductive 110814-01 2300 A F Nonreproductive 37.3 6.1 12.0 47.1 18.9 14.0 45.9 17.3 14.0 37.2 7.4 12.5 36.4 7.4 12.0
Appendix 2 (cont.) Bat ID# tragus length (mm) Thumb (mm) Foot (mm) Accoustic recordings? Wing Damage Index Comments 110802-01 5.0 5.0 6.0 Y 0 keel present on calcar 110808-01 5.0 8.0 8.0 Y 0 110808-02 5.0 6.0 Y 0 110808-03 5.0 6.0 7.0 Y 0 110812-01 6.0 7.0 9.0 0 few mites on wing; minor scarring on wings 110812-02 5.0 7.0 11.0 Y 0 110812-03 5.0 6.0 9.0 Y 0 110812-04 Unk. Unk. Unk. Unk. Unk. escaped from holding bag; had bed bugs on it 110812-05 5.0 6.0 9.0 Y 0 110812-06 4.0 6.0 10.0 Y 0 mites on wing; minor scarring on wings; tab on calcar 110813-01 5.0 7.0 9.0 Y 0 mites on wings 110813-02 5.0 8.0 Y 0 orange mites in ears 110813-03 6.0 9.0 12.0 Y 0 orange mites in ears 110813-04 5.5 7.0 9.0 Y 0 110814-01 4.0 6.0 9.0 Y 0 few blemishes on wings
Appendix 3 Summary of bat recordings at the Vernon Military Camp, Vernon, B.C. and the Chilcotin Training Area near Riske Creek B.C. All recordings made with a Song meter SM2BAT full spectrum auto recording systems (Wildlife Acoustics, Concord, Mass.).
Recording session Start Date Location Habitat UTM Zone Easting Northing Elevation R 1 02-Aug-11 VMC-near pond grasslands, lakeshore 11U 336095 5566031 610 R 2 02-Aug-11 VMC-Abseil Cliff cliif face 11U 335633 5566122 665 R 3 03-Aug-11 VMC-small outcrop in grasslands, small rock 11U 336732 5567100 536 grasslands outcrop R 4 03-Aug-11 VMC-Abseil Cliff cliif face 11U 335632 5566126 665 R 04-Aug-11 VMC-small outcrop in grasslands, small rock 11U 336931 5567239 527 grasslands outcrop R 6 04-Aug-11 VMC-small outcrop in grasslands, small rock 11U 336235 5566298 613 grasslands outcrop R 7 07-Aug-11 CTA-Pauline meadow meadow, small creek 10U 529628 5770503 1023 R 8 R 9 R 10 R 11 R 12 R 13 R 14 R 15 R 16 R 17 R 18 R 19 R 20 R 21 07-Aug-11 CTA-west side of Fish sedge fen, lakeshore 10U 529586 5773072 1010 08-Aug-11 CTA-NE side of lakeshore, aspen grove in 10U 528448 5764815 1032 Drummond grasslands 08-Aug-11 CTA-small lake west of lakeshore, grasslands 10U 531809 5765605 995 Drummond 09-Aug-11 CTA-west side of Fish wet run near lake 10U 529598 5773021 1006 09-Aug-11 CTA-north end of Fish lakeshore, coniferous forest 10U 529439 5773848 1004 10-Aug-11 CTA-east side of Fish lakeshore, aspen forest 10U 530132 5773272 994 10-Aug-11 CTA-east side of Callaran old cabin, lakeshore, 10U 530194 5775173 993 grasslands 11-Aug-11 CTA-small lake east of lakeshore, grasslands 10U 531178 5773916 985 Fish 11-Aug-11 CTA-NE end of Callanan lakeshore, grasslands, 10U 529365 5776416 1011 creek 12-Aug-11 CTA-road south of aspen-pine, road 10U 531697 5763507 1050 Drummond 12-Aug-11 CTA-road near aspen-pine, road 10U 530150 5778087 1037 McTaggart 13-Aug-11 CTA-Dome Mountain coniferous forest, cliff face 10U 526095 5772397 1357 near fire lookout 13-Aug-11 CTA-creek between Fish swampy creek off lake 10U 529624 5774108 1023 and Callanan s 14-Aug-11 CTA-west end of creek, sedge meadow 10U 529596 5766890 1008 Drummond
Appendix 3 (cont.) Recording Start Duration Start Cloud Wind End # bat # bat time 1st session Time (min) temp. cover speed/ Precip. temp. passes passes/hr bat R 1 2057 223 24.8 3 S 5 nil 15.5 82 22.1 2133 R 2 2057 205 19.6 3 S 5-15 nil 15.5 62 18.1 2121 R 3 2055 200 24.1 0 calm nil 12 11 3.3 2135 R 4 2055 185 27.4 0 calm nil 12 39 12.6 2120 R 2053 197 26.0 2 calm nil 20 18 5.5 2129 R 6 2053 165 24.0 2 calm nil 20 7 2.5 2138 R 7 2109 270 15.3 0 calm nil 12.5 13 2.9 2135 R 8 2109 240 12.5 0 calm nil 12 48 12.0 2126 R 9 2107 218 20.8 7 calm nil 9 9 2.5 2137 R 10 2107 203 15.1 7 calm nil 9 21 6.2 2146 R 11 2105 180 18.5 7 calm rain after 12 141 47.0 2133 midnight R 12 2105 185 17.4 7 calm rain after 12 151 49.0 2130 midnight R 13 2103 270 12.3 6 calm nil 11.9 90 20.0 2127 R 14 2103 240 12.3 6 calm nil 11.9 143 35.8 2131 R 15 2100 180 18 6 W 20 nil 15 85 28.3 2143 R 16 2100 160 13.5 6 W20 nil 15 17 6.4 2130 R 17 2058 270 10.4 9 calm nil 8 5 1.1 2153 R 18 2058 240 10.4 9 calm nil 8 6 1.5 2107 R 19 2056 270 14 10 calm few rain 11.5 20 4.4 2131 drops R 20 2056 240 14 10 calm few rain 11.5 161 40.3 2106 drops R 21 2054 220 10.7 6 calm nil 7 104 28.4 2116