DISCUSSION 



Visual inspection of known caves and analysis of ANABAT recordings revealed that bats were not 

 evenly distributed along the road corridor and that they were more likely to be found close to historic structures 

 and in areas known to contain established roost sites. Only one cave site, Devil's Kitchen, contained more than 

 one or two bats. Five were observed and a few more were suspected. The most productive recording sites were 

 found at lower elevations, near Mammoth, and may have reflected the greater abundance of preferred roost sites 

 in those areas. 



Summarizing the detection results from all sites, bats were detected at 19 (55.9%) locations, with data 

 unavailable for one additional site. Fourteen sites (41.2%) had no bat detections. ANABAT instruments 

 detected few bats around water bodies near active hot springs or in the Norris area. Reasons for the lack of bat 

 activity are not known. Moths and other flying insects were observed at all the sample sites. This aspect of bat 

 distribution needs more study to understand why bats are selectively avoiding certain areas. It is unlikely that 

 all species avoid thermal areas, since there is a well known colony site in a very active thermal area south of 

 Norris Junction. 



The Hoodoo area in particular was disappointing for its lack of recorded activity. This location should 

 have produced numerous bat calls because of the large number of small caves and roosting spots available. 

 Weather conditions spoiled the opportunity to record bat activity and there was insufficient time available to 

 repeat the sampling. Other sites were skipped or dropped because of time or equipment limitations in favor of 

 covering the most territory within the area of interest. 



Previous bat studies in the Park have involved visual observation of flying individuals or hand counts 

 of known colonies. These methods impose severe limitations and require an unreasonable commitment of time 

 and manpower. Employing the ANABAT instrument with recording capability greatly increases the efficiency 

 and productivity of the scientific effort and produces reliable data over a large geographic area with a modest 

 investment of time and physical effort. 



Sam Martinez 



Montana Natural Heritage Program 



1515 East 6th Avenue 



Helena. Montana 59620 



voice: (406)444-0917 



FAX: (406)444-5612 



e-mail: samm@state.mt.us 



»t . . -•*. 



