Bat Condo in Squamish Estuary has a view to "Fly" for...

The good folks of Squamish and beyond got a little batty, Sat. July 21st 2018, at the SRWS Bat Condo Grand Opening and Celebration in the stunning Squamish Estuary.

DAY & NIGHT OF THE BATS

It's up!  Finally up and awaiting its new winged tenants to move in. 
On Sat. July 21st at 11:00am, volunteers from the Men's Shed (the amazing folks who built the condo) cut the ribbon in front of a fascinated crowd and officially opened the condo to the bats of Squamish. 

It will take around 2-3 years to see any bat action at this new roost, but we believe it will be successful. The location is prime for bats, and really, who could resist that view?  The condo will be mainly used by female bats as a nursery roost.  Maybe we should have called it a "Bat Nursery Opening" instead.

This is perfect timing for such a project as more cases of the bat killing, White Nose Syndrome, have been discovered in Washington State and is expected to find it's way to BC within a year or two.   

Providing a "nursery roost" in ideal bat habitat will provide not only what our bats need to survive, but will also create an accessible bat population that we can monitor for signs of the deadly syndrome.  ​Please open file below for more info. on White Nose Syndrome:

wnsbcbats.pdf
File Size:	1024 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---

After the exciting official opening ceremony, some participants joined the SRWS Executive Director, Edith Tobe, on an informative tour of the Chelem Trail, visited bat information booths, played Estuary Bingo, and of course had "Holy Bat Cake, Batman!"  

The "night" half of our bat celebration found us at the Squamish Adventure Centre for an intimate and very informative "bat talk" with BC Community Bat Program's, Danielle Dagenais.  Did you know we had over 10 different species of bats on the South Coast?

After the presentation we had the option of heading off to the Squamish Easter Seal's Camp to learn how to monitor bats for the Bat Program. Bats have been observed on several other nights at this location coming from one of the building's roof tops, so we had a good idea where to look for the bats. 

It's quite challenging and exciting trying to count these tiny little bats as they seem to magically appear from nowhere and dart off into the night, sometimes 10 or more at a time.  We counted over 100 bats that night, as well as a night hawk, blue heron and bald eagles.  It was totally awesome, Bat People!

​For more information on bats and/or to volunteer for bat monitoring in Squamish contact Danielle Dagenais at: 604-754-3220 or visit the BC Community Bat Program's website at: www.bcbats.ca/

Thank you to the Men's Shed, TD Friends of the Environment, Squamish Savings, Mark Wilmot and the Hunters for help with this special event and this essential project. 

​Until next time...