Bat count this year shows promise for Okanagan population

Every year B.C. counts bats, and the program in the Okanagan has some good news for folks who are concerned about local wildlife. 

The Okanagan has the most species of bats anywhere in Canada with 15 different varieties, and the Okanagan Bat Program coordinator Paula Rodriguez de la Vega said the population is looking promising this year.

“It’s going great. Our numbers so far as far as volunteers go, lots of interest, which is great and the bat counts themselves have also been going quite well with numbers that are fairly normal,” she said.

The bat count is a citizen science initiative since it relies on volunteers counting bats at bat boxes and people either calling or emailing BC Bats to inform them about any leather-winged critters living on their property.

BC Bats have been monitoring bat populations annually for more than 10 years with two rounds of counting. The first count that is wrapping up this week focuses on the female bats and the second count happens later in the summer which tracks adult bats and their babies.

Rodriguez de la Vega said the bat roost locations are a well kept secret just in case bat enthusiasts try to visit a roost someone’s property.

“For the most part a lot of roosts are on private property so say somebody has bats that are roosting in their attic or they have a bat box on their property,” she said. “It can happen where when you have such a huge number of volunteers they might say ‘hey there’s a bat colony around the corner you want to go check it out’ without asking permission.”

She got involved with the bat program since she loves nature and bats are such a unique animal.

“They’re mammals that can fly,” she said. “They’ve just been persecuted for so long thanks to Hollywood and all the great stories that we hear on Halloween. Bats are not evil, they’re not out to bite you and suck your blood or anything like that. They’re just super important critters and I just want to stand up for them.”

There is concern about a disease called white nose syndrome that affects bats, but it only appears in the spring and winter so the bat monitoring program in the summer doesn’t check for that. The disease has been found in bats in Alberta and Washington but it hasn’t made its way into B.C. yet.

Bats are a protected species so if anyone sees a bat on their property or in their house they ought to find out how to safely handle the situation by contacting BC Bats online or by calling 1-855-922-2287.

“There’s a timeline that needs to be followed if you want to exclude bats from your building to make sure that the pups aren’t killed or harmed,” Rodriguez de la Vega said.