Bats in general are a common component of our local North Coast ecosystems, however, many of us don't realize this as their nocturnal behavior tends to mask their occurrence. Here at the UC-Hopland Research & Extension Center it is known that we have had at least 14 species of bats utilizing various habitat types. This information is mainly known from either collected museum specimens or a few daytime roosts that have been located over the past decades.
Species known to occur at HREC or the nearby vicinity include Big Brown, California Myotis, Little Brown Myotis, Yuma Myotis, Fringed Myotis, Hairy-winged Myotis, Long0eared Myotis, Hoary, Pallid, Silver-haired, Western Big-eared, Western Pipistrelle, Western Red, and Brazilian Free-tailed bats ... but exactly what habitat types they use to forage in or over is a bit sketchy to say the least. More research on these unique flying insect predators should really be done in the North Coast.
HREC has placed eight bat roost-boxes at various elevations and habitat types throughout the Center... and all eight of these were used within a couple months of placement. A monthly check of the boxes simply tells of presence and absence, but species identification has not been attempted. It is quite clear that the numbers of bats utilizing these boxes fluctuates greatly, especially during spring and fall migration. Here you see one of the seven-chamber bat boxes with Myotis bats within.
