Working with PhD student Cylita Guy (now Dr. Cylita Guy), we caught 167 big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) in and around High Park in the summer of 2016. There were twice as many males in the park compared to females. To figure out where the bats fed and slept, we radio-tracked bats (see below for profiles of some of the bats we tracked). Females and males used the park differently, as females spent most of their time in one particular area of the park (the SW), while males seemed to use the entire park. That said, neither spent a lot of time feeding there. Instead, they seemed to be passing through to feed elsewhere. Also, we did not find any bat roosts in the park, but we did find some in the neighbourhoods surrounding the park. Together these patterns suggest that, although the park appears to have plenty of good habitat for bats, they don’t appear to be using it. This is especially problematic for females, since they are the ones that give birth and raise pups, and are therefore key to ensuring a healthy population. This suggests we need to do a better job when planning urban parks if we want to make sure we have bats in our neighbourhoods.
To read more, check out our paper published in the Journal of Urban Ecology patriquin et al 2019 urban bats
Learn more about HOW we study these bats.
MEET (in order of first capture):
DISCLAIMER:
How to properly remove bats from your home. PLEASE wear gloves!!
PLEASE do not try to handle bats. I have over 20 years of experience handling bats so I know how to do this in a way that is safe for me AND the bats. I also have proper vaccinations. If you find a bat in your home, put on gloves then place a box or towel over the bat and take it outside. If you find a bat on the ground, call animal control.
Krista J. Patriquin 