Please note: The hands holding the bats are those of trained handlers possessing rabies vaccination (an essential precaution for handling any wild mammal, not just bats.) Never attempt to handle any wild mammal without appropriate training and vaccination.

Pallid bat, Antrozous pallidus
photo by Joe Szewczak
Pallid bats are more common in desert areas than in conifer forest areas like Carman Valley. They fly slowly on broad wings, often gleaning large insects from the ground, which they carry to a perch and then eat. The pallid bat is listed as a California species of concern and a Forest Service sensitive species.

Big brown bat, Eptesicus fuscus
photo by Tammy Conkle
Big brown bats are one of the most common North American bats. They prefer hard-bodied insects like beetles, and are recognized as contributing significantly to the reduction of agricultural pest insects. Big brown bats often form colonies of several hundred individuals, but the Carman Valley big browns probably roost in smaller colonies in snag hollows. In the spring, females aggregate into maternity colonies separate from males.

Silver-haired bat, Lasionycteris noctivagans photo by Tammy Conkle
Silver-haired bats are typical of forested areas. Radio telemetry studies have often tracked them to roosts in hollows or under bark high up in snags. They often forage low over creeks and meadows, flying slower than most other bats. They eat a variety of insects.

Townsend's big-eared bat, Corynorhinus townsendii photo by Joe Szewczak
Townsend's big-eared bat is a typical "cave" bat, but has also taken to roosting in human structures. They primarily feed on moths, although they are known to also glean insects from the ground and off vegetation. The Townsend's big-eared bats is listed as a US Fish and Wildlife and a California species of concern and a Forest Service sensitive species.

Spotted bat, Euderma maculatum photo by Joe Szewczak
Once considered the rarest mammal in North America, a living spotted bat was not observed until the mid 1950's. However, we now know they are more widespread, although they remain uncommon and patchy in occurrence, preferring wild, undisturbed areas. Spotted bats are moth specialists. Many moths have a simple hearing system to avoid bats by detecting their echolocation calls. Spotted bats stealthily avoid such detection by emitting their primary echolocation call at lower, humanly audible, frequencies, and at lower amplitude. The lower amplitude calls require larger ears to detect the returning echoes of their calls. The spotted bat is listed as a US Fish and Wildlife and a California species of concern.

Red bat, Lasiurus blossevillii photo by Joe Szewczak
Red bats have a distinctive reddish-orange coloration. They are migratory, and probably just pass through the meadow on occasion. Red bats typically roost among clusters of leaves high up in trees.

Hoary bat, Lasiurus cinereus    photo by Joe Szewczak
Hoary bats have a distinctive hoar frost-like coloration of their fur. Like red bats,they are migratory and typically roost among clusters of leaves high up in trees. Hoary bats are the largest bats known to the Carman Valley area.

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