DARLENE HARTFORD

BC Bat Watch - Provincial Bat Counts 2018

Friday June 1st and 15th

Friday July 20th

Friday August 3rd 

Meet at 8:30 pm in front of Peachland Historic Primary School. Please bring a lawn chair.

 

Canada Day Bat Count

July 1st 

 

Meet at 8:30 pm in front of Peachland Historic Primary School to count bats before the fireworks. 

 

We have bats in our attic!

 

The recent refurbishing of the Peachland Historic Primary School building revealed a roost tat is possibly upwrds of 2000 Yuma bats.

 

"This could possibly be the largest Yuma bat colony in British Columbia”.

 

Bats are a protected species and valuable mammals in the eco system. They eat up to three quarters of their body weight in insects each night and mosquitoes are their choice of diet in Peachland; this explains why Peachland beaches are virtually mosquito free.

 

The colony lives in the roost from March to October. Mid October the bats begin departing the Historic Primary School and fly across Lake Okanagan. The speculation is they hibernate in the rocks of Okanagan Mountain Park. 

 

A visit to the Legends of the Lake Interpretive Centre in the Peachland Visitor Centre will show how humans and bats can successfully co-habitat. Come in and learn through our 'Bat Chats' how myths of health risks and other public fears have been put to rest by wildlife biologists. View the daily life style of these nocturnal mammals via video cameras installed in the Historic Primary School roost. You can also briing a blanket and sit outside the Historic Primary School at dusk to view these little mammals take flight for their nightly forging.