Alberta Community Bat Program/Western Bat Program 🦇 (@albertabats.bsky.social)

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 10, 2026, 6:53 PM

Happy Baturday! Meet the “Skylion.” 🦇 Canada’s largest bat faces steep population declines and high mortality at wind turbines. Widespread doesn’t mean safe. Hoary Bats need protection throughout their time in Alberta, beyond short periods of curtailment during peak migration.

Close-up photograph of a Hoary Bat hanging upside down, showing white-tipped brown fur, a golden-yellow collar, rounded ears with dark edges, and a partially open mouth. Text reads: “Hoary Bat, Lasiurus cinereus. Widespread across North America. But widespread doesn’t mean safe.” A yellow badge reads “COSEWIC endangered.” Photo credit: Jason Headley. WCS Canada Western Bat Program and Alberta Community Bat Program logos appear at the bottom.

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 5:31 PM

Our bat probiotic project is expanding beyond BC and WA and into Alberta and the territories! Bats benefit! We’re studying how long it persists and whether it could be used in backyard bat houses.🦇

Help fund this work: donate or run a fundraiser!

wcscanada.donorsupport.co/page/FUNKNPK...

Image of a Little Brown Myotis covered with fungal growth Pd that causes white-nose syndrome in hibernating bats. Overwinter mortality rates for this species are over 90%. Photo: Greg Horne from Feb 2026.

Image of a bat wing stretched out in the gloved hands of a bat researcher. UV light is shining on the wing surface where speckles of orange fluoresce under the UV light. This is a sign of fungal growth (Pd) that causes white-nose syndrome. Bats emerging from hibernation will show this sign if they have been infected by Pd. Photo: Jason Headley

Image of the team at work processing bats in early May - documenting signs of white-nose syndrome. One researcher holds a bat while another swabs the wing with a sterile swab that will be sent away for testing. Researchers wear gloves (and change them between bats) to reduce the risk of transmission of the fungus between bats. Masks are worn to protect the bats from researchers potentially giving bats any diseases. This work involves a lot of decontamination, making processing of each bat highly involved before it is eventually released back into the night. We are grateful for a huge number of volunteers who have joined us to help with this project. Photo: Jason Headley

Our Alberta team sprays hydrated probiotic bacteria into bat houses after bats have left to hunt for the evening. The probiotic formula dries onto roosting surfaces. Returning bats crawl over the roost surfaces and pick up the beneficial bacteria on their wings which will assist in their survival in the following winter when they encounter Pd that causes white-nose syndrome. Photo: Jason Headley

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 3:23 PM

How I arrived on BlueSky

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 8:57 PM

Gardening for bats? Think bug farming! 🦇🌱

Native plants feed caterpillars. Flowers feed moths. Together, they help grow a bat buffet!

Sharing a few tips from last night’s Calgary Horticulture Club talk. Find plant lists in our Alberta Program Guide: albertabats.ca/resources

Gardening for Bats?
A little brown myotis rests head-down on tree bark beside gardening tips: reduce outdoor lighting; garden for bugs; eliminate pesticides; build a water feature; keep domestic cats inside at night; pull burdock; and consider suitable bat houses. Photo credited to Jennifer Chik.

Moon Meadows and Bat Gardens
A full moon against a dark blue night sky accompanies the text: “Moon Meadows: Fragrant flowers feed moths; moths pollinate flowers. Bat Gardens: Bug farming!”

Plant a Bat Garden!
Gardening tips over a photograph of a lake at dusk: fragrant plants; white or pale flowers; late afternoon or evening blooms; tubular flowers; and native plants, shrubs and trees that feed caterpillars. Photos on the right show a yellow flower of a native evening primrose, pink wild roses and golden leaves beside a pale aspen tree trunk.

Plant Lists and Pesticides
The cover of “Building Bat-Friendly Communities: Alberta Program Guide” features a bat hanging head-down. Beside it, text reads: “Find plant lists in our Alberta Program Guide. Be sure plants you buy are not treated with neonicotinoids.” Resource address: albertabats.ca/resources.

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 12:00 AM

An amazing opportunity in British Columbia with a great foundation that does some really fantastic work.

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 9:58 PM

"ribbeting" LOL! I see what you did there...but seriously - frogs may not echolocate - but some of them do use ultrasound for communication!

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18029296/

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 6:39 PM

What? We are HERE for FAT FROGS! (funny from a guy named Kroeker). LOL!

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 6, 2026, 4:42 PM

I'm loving the bats but now I'm thinking I need recipes for some of these things... LOL!

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 5, 2026, 4:50 PM

Love the 👃

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 5, 2026, 4:29 PM

Or at the very least maybe protecting them (and their habitats)! 🦇🌳🪲

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 5, 2026, 4:10 PM

Bat Fact! 🦇 Big Brown Bats love beetles, including agricultural pests. One study estimated that a colony of 150 could eat about 600,000 cucumber beetles in a season. That’s a lot of free pest control! Whitaker 1995

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 5, 2026, 3:45 PM

with that big bare muzzle - it looks like a Big Brown Bat to me! I don't know if Evening Bats range over to Minnesota - I don't think so? My money is on Eptesicus fuscus. BBB.

Close up portrait of a Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus) by Sebastian A. Echeverrri. Bat has dark golden brown fur, bright eyes and a muzzle that is puffy and bare (very typical for EPFU).

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 4, 2026, 8:40 PM

But can we help bats survive? 🦇

Our topical probiotic is showing promising results as a new tool against white-nose syndrome.

Learn more: wcscanada.org/bats

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 4, 2026, 8:37 PM

What happens when a bat gets white-nose syndrome? 🦇 A cold-loving fungus sets off a deadly chain reaction during hibernation. Here's what happens. ↓

A hibernating brown bat clings to a cave wall with visible white fungal growth on its muzzle, ears and wing. Text reads: “What is white-nose syndrome? A cold-loving fungus. Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd) grows on hibernating bats during winter.” Photo: Greg Horne.

Close-up of a small bat with white fungal growth around its muzzle, held gently in blue-gloved hands. Its mouth is open and wings are partly extended. Text reads: “What is white-nose syndrome? Bats wake up too often. The fungus causes bats to wake repeatedly during hibernation.” Photo: Steve Taylor/USFW.

A bat wing held open by blue-gloved hands and photographed under ultraviolet light, revealing numerous orange-yellow areas of tissue affected by white-nose syndrome. Text reads: “What is white-nose syndrome? Winter energy runs out. Each time a bat wakes, it burns fat needed to survive winter.” Photo: Jason Headley.

Numerous dead bats lie scattered on snow outside a winter hibernation site. Text reads: “What is white-nose syndrome? Many bats don’t survive. Some bats starve or leave hibernation too early, when insects are still unavailable.” Photo: Cynthia Werier.

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 4, 2026, 7:18 PM

Funny story - I had been using this photo during outreach (especially to kids) because they are so adorable. But I could never find the attribution for the image. I was at a bat conference and @danriskin.bsky.social was presenting (a fellow bat bio & friend) and it was HIS photo! LOL! Proper credit!

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 4, 2026, 7:08 PM

Delightfully communal! Yes!

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 3, 2026, 11:02 PM

The cutest!

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 3, 2026, 11:02 PM

FAT BAT WEEK! (do we need to say more?)

@albertabats.bsky.social Oct 3, 2026, 10:58 PM

🦇Fun fact: these little guys specialize on avian prey - yeah - they feed on birds. So, don't worry about'em you buncha two-legged mammals....