Bat barn, Milo McIver State Park (bobcat)

• Hikes to this location:
  • Milo McIver Riverside Loop Hike   (TH | <—   —> | LOG)

• Weather forecast: NWS/NOAA
• Maps: Oregon Hikers Maps Google Maps
• Latitude, Longitude: 45.2845, -122.3626
• Elevation: 655 feet

Description

A self-guided mile-long nature loop with six interpretive stops includes an old barn that serves as a maternity ward/nursery for female Townsend's big-eared bats. The trail overlooks a meadow which is a favorite foraging ground for several species of bats that swoop and dive for flying insects (mosquitoes, moths, beetles) after twilight. There are several bat houses around the meadow: Each one can house up to 50 bats.

The Townsend's big eared bats (Corynorhinus townsendii) can live from 5 to 16 years. Adult bats are about 4 inches long with an 11-inch wingspan. The females arrive at the barn in early summer to give birth. Each female nurses only one pup, and the pups are gathered in a nursery when their mothers are out hunting. Their preferred diet is the owlet moth of the family Noctuidae (The adult form of cutworms and armyworms). Each mother has a distinctive call she uses to locate her pup in the nursery mass when she returns. By early fall, the pups can fly on their own, and they and their mothers depart for their winter roost. At this point, they join the males, and mating takes place.

Don't try to enter the barn: The bats are very sensitive to human interference. If you're at the barn after sunset during the summer, you can observe the bats emerging to begin their nightly feeding mission. Do not touch any bats, dead or alive, that you find on the ground. The animal is probably diseased, and bats carry pathogens, such as rabies, which can be transmitted to humans.

More Links

• Townsend's Big-eared bats (Channel Islands National Park)
• Animal Fact Sheet: Townsend's big-eared bat (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum)
• Milo McIver Bat Trail (Oregon State Parks)
• Milo McIver Bat Trail (Portland Monthly)

Contributors

• bobcat (creator)