GC3G00K Echolocation (Traditional Cache) in British Columbia, Canada created by JeepApex

This cache has been archived.

JeepApex: Sorry to archive, with this new apartment construction the location has drastically changed.

GC3G00K ▼

A cache by JeepApex Message this owner

Hidden : 7/17/2012

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

This cache was entered in the BC Geocaching Association Cache Blitz 2012 - Let's Go Play Outside. Thanks for visiting and voting for my cache. This cache was a WINNER for Educational Spot / Environmental in the Thompson/ Okanagan region. Thanks everyone! :) Try to get here just before dusk, to give you time to log the cache then watch the historic Peachland Primary School as the bats to take to the skies for their nightly flight. Winter cachers will miss the show, sorry!

Peachland bats, previously considered a nuisance, have now become a local phenomena, and educational opportunity. It has been known that the nocturnal mammals inhabited the 103 year old Peachland Primary School for decades, however, their numbers have only recently been revealed. Peachland Primary was closed in 2002 and recent refurbishing of the historic building revealed a massive roost. Wildlife biologist, Aaron Reid from Ministry of Environment, estimates the colony to be upwards of 2000 Yuma bats. Reid identified Peachland’s roost as a maternity colony, which means it is comprised mostly of breeding females, underproductive females, which are yearlings, and juveniles. Male bats will roost in smaller bachelor roosts separate from the females but this roost (in the attic) is so big there could be male groups roosting there as well. Bats can have quite long lifespans (the longest known lifespan of a Little Brown Bat in the wild is 34 years!). Females tend to have one pup per year. Exactly when the pup is born can be quite variable. The average length of gestation is 50-60 days, but can be longer; when the spring temperature is cool, females will use torpor to lower their body temperature and slow down gestation until the weather improves and their food source (insects) are likely to be more abundant. In BC most pups are born late June or July, but occasionally we capture females in August that are still pregnant. When the pup is born it can weigh up to 1/4-1/3 of the body weight of the female (that's like a human female having a 30-40 lb. baby!). The pup is fed entirely through lactation for about the first six weeks of life (the baby is almost adult-sized by four weeks). As you can imagine, feeding her pup entirely through lactation represents a huge metabolic stress on the female! In order to keep her metabolism high to produce milk for the baby and keep the pup warm, females often seem to choose very warm roosts. The pup is weaned at approximately six weeks of age, after which it is responsible for catching its own prey. All of our bats in BC (and Canada) eat only insects which they locate using their echolocation. The size of insect they eat, and their method of hunting varies among species. For example, our most common bats, the Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus) and Yuma Myotis (Myotis yumanensis) hunt in the air (hawking) and eat small flying insects such as mosquitoes and flies. A Little Brown Bat can catch up to 600 mosquitoes in an hour! Another method of hunting is gleaning (eating insects off vegetation, tree trucks, buildings, or the ground. This can be accomplished by hovering over the vegetation, or by crawling along the ground). Bats must add on an additional 40% to their body weight in stored fat reserves to make it through the winter. This could possibly be the largest Yuma bat colony in British Columbia. Bats in the attic of Peachland Primary School have created a unique educational experience. Bats are a protected species and are now considered valuable mammals in the eco system. They can eat up to three quarters of their body weight in insects each night and mosquitoes are their choice of diet in Peachland, thus explaining why Peachland is virtually mosquito free. Along with the massive colony an accumulation of more than 40 years of bat guano was also uncovered. Guano is becoming an increasingly popular home and commercial fertilizer due to its high content of nitrates. A mosquito diet creates an extremely high nitrate composition and is one of the more sought after fertilizers. Please stop by the Chamber of Commerce office to purchase your “Peachland Guano”. When the Peachland Primary School is refurbished it will become the new home of the Peachland Visitor Centre, Peachland Chamber of Commerce, Peachland Boys & Girls Club, and of course, our Peachland Yumas. The colony lives in the roost from April to October. Mid October the bats begin departing the schoolhouse and fly across Lake Okanagan to hibernate in the rocks of Okanagan Park. Their fragile bodies cannot tolerate extreme changes in temperature so they will hibernate in caves or rock outcroppings where their body temperatures can remain more constant through the winter. A visit to the Peachland Visitor Centre will show how humans and bats can successfully co-habitat. Learn 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 Primary School roost. Learn of hibernation patterns, diet and other bat species with a stop at the local Visitor Centre or you may want to take a blanket and sit outside the Primary School on a starry night to view these little mammals take flight for their nightly foraging.The bat flights are over for 2012, they will be back next spring.