Arizona Bats

Well, the bats are certainly back at our place here north of Tucson.  Here is what was waiting for us after a trip to Yellowstone a few weeks back:

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I count about 20 Pallid bats.  While we like bats we would prefer them to hang out in their bat house which has yet to be used.  The poop from 20 bats on your porch is a bit much.

I was hoping for some ID help with another bat that visited us.  We have had the Big Brown Bat before but this bat was smaller, blonder and seemed to have longer ears:

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Thanks in advance.

Alan

4 Comments

  • vdinets

    Off the top of my head, I’d say fringed myotis. Could be also western small-footed, but I think the toes are too long. Sorry, all my books are packed away at the moment.

  • Jon Hall

    Alan, I sent this to the guru – Fiona Reid.. and this is what she said, which agrees with Vladimir’s Western Smal-footed diagnosis; “it is slightly tricky because there are two myotis that are very similar. M. ciliolabrum and M. californicus. In Arizona they can be v difficult to distinguish but often M californicus is a bit more of a red brown. And M ciliolabrum has very pronounced pale fur which is black at base and contrasts strongly with the black face and wings (as in the images shown). So I would say it is that species. In the hand one has a flatter skull but you need to have caught both to be able to distinguish them that way. ”

    cheers

    Jon (and Fiona)

  • Jon Hall

    PS bat poop aside, how great to have this on your property!

  • Alan D

    Fantastic, that’s a new bat for us. Thank you Jon, Vladimir and of course Fiona.

    Yes, we enjoy the bats but still wish they would move into their $90 official house. We finally evicted the previous tenant (Spiny Lizard).

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