When you mention bats, people usually shiver and make a horrified face.
Unfortunately, they’ve long been associated with scary things and have consequently stayed in the “let’s pretend they don’t exist” group of creatures, along with spiders and snakes. It doesn’t help that they’re active at night, so we seldom get to have encounters with these fascinating and very necessary animals.
I have recently discovered that there are over ten species of bats that live on Vancouver Island, some that are considered not at risk, some at risk, and some that are very close to extinction.
I know that we have a colony living with us, as occasionally at dusk you’ll see or feel the fluttering of their shady wings as they meander through the air in search of their night time meal of bugs. We have two bat boxes under the eaves of our barn, and at least one of them has a family in residence. The bat box gives them a safe place to call home without all of the difficulty of building their own house. 
According to the Habitat Acquisition Trust,
- All our bats are insectivores, meaning they all eat bugs. In fact, they eat more insects than any other nighttime predator. No bats in Canada eat fruit or blood.
- All our bats are relatively small. Most bats with their wings spread are smaller than adult’s outspread hand, though a few grow up to 20cm.
- All are suffering from major habitat loss, including loss of important feeding areas on streams and wetlands, and roost areas in wildlife trees.
- All are long-lived (over 30 years for some species) and reproduce slowly. Most species have only 1 baby each year, though a few species are known to have twins.
Several of our bat species are considered to be at-risk, including the Keen’s Myotis and Townsend Big-eared Bat. The Little Brown Bat has been recommended for Endangered status by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada due to dramatic population losses from White Nose Syndrome in Eastern Canada.
Providing the bats with homes is one way to help ensure that their numbers remain healthy…and another is to create an environment that ensures a plentiful supply of their favourite foods. Pesticides and herbicides aren’t necessary in a yard, and by eliminating them from our gardening practices we are encouraging species health at all levels of the food chain.
