September Guided Bat Walks

British Columbia is home to 15 species of bat. Unfortunately we don’t know exactly how many species of bat live here in Squamish, nobody has really spent the time to document them all. To help address this question, we launched our ‘Bats of Squamish River Estuary’ project earlier this year. Preliminary data suggests we may be home to 7 or 8 species right here! Stay tuned to learn more about our research.

As part of this project we are launching a series of bat walks to share knowledge about bats and debunk some common bat myths! So please join us in learning more about the bats of Squamish!

Click here to RSVP

The details:

Where:

Squamish River Dyke / Amblepath Slough, next to the Squamish Public Works Yard. Parking is available along the dirt road before the gate. During our walk, we will stick to the gravel trail which is flat. There is a pedestrian crossing over the railway.

When:

Wednesday September 9, 7:15 pm and September 23, 7:00 pm. The guided walks will last approximately 1 hour.

What’s involved:

We will meet at the trail head next to the parking area (near the yellow gate). We will begin with a talk covering bat ecology and the bats of BC. This will be followed by a short walk along a gravel trail where we will look and listen for bats. Bat detectors (provided to loan during the walk) will allow us to peer into the mysterious world of bats and hear them as they emerge from their roosts in search of some breakfast!

What to bring:

Please bring your phones* (fully charged for the plug in bat detectors), dress in warm long sleeved clothing, appropriate footwear and a headlamp or flashlight (red light is preferred). 

The bat detectors we are using pair with an application for your phone called Bat Detector App (iOS) / BatGizmo (Android). Please download the app before the guided walk.

Download the app: Android or Apple

*Our bat detectors plug into all iPhones/iPads, and most modern Android phones. We will have a few spare iPhones for use on the night if you are unable to bring/use your own.

Things to note:

We may have to re-schedule the bat walk if the weather is not appropriate (rain). Please keep an eye on your emails on the day for confirmation that the walk is going ahead.

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected]