Determination of Presence and Habitat Suitability for the Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis) and Gray Bat (Myotis grisescens) for the Pine Ford Study Area, Jefferson, Washington, St. Louis and Franklin Counties, Missouri

• Main Author: Rabinowitz,Alan R
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: BATS; Biology; ENDANGERED SPECIES; FLIGHT; MISSOURI; MONITORING; NIGHT FLIGHT; PATTERNS; TABLES(DATA); TRAPS

From 29 June 1981, through 14 August 1981, fifty five trap nights and four monitor nights on the Big River and its tributaries within the Pine Ford Study Area resulted in the capture of 393 bats of ten species. High mist nets that spanned the river from bank to bank and extended from water level to a height of 7.5 meters were used. Ultrasonic monitors were used to document bat activity levels at net sites and to assess the presence of myotine bats in areas that could not be netted. Activity patterns and capture times of different species appeared to be related to the presence of mayfly hatches. The red bat (Lasiurus borealis), was the most common bat captured, comprising fifty-four percent of the total sample. Two federally endangered species, the Indiana bat, (Myotis sodalis) and the gray bat, (Myotis grisescens), also were captured, comprising 2.3 percent and 1.5 percent of the total sample, respectively. Of the nine M. sodalis captured, all were adult males except for two adult females. One lactating female M. sodalis was captured on 1 July and a post-lactating female M. sodalis was captured on 22 July. Of six M. grisescens captured, all were adult males except for one juvenile female captured on 12 August.