RECOMMENDATIONS 



1) Due to limited time in the field during the 1994 survey, the known status and distribution 

 of bats on the Sioux District should not be considered as definitive. Although several 

 collections of bats have been made in the area over the years, most field efforts have been 

 brief (less than two months) and not comprehensive. The combined efforts of the various 

 surveys are just beginning to reveal a more complete picture of the bat fauna of the region. 

 Additional summer survey work should be done in all units, focussing on the Chalk Buttes, 

 North Cave Hills, South Cave Hills, and East Short Pine Hills. 



2) Ludlow Cave in the North Cave Hills should be surveyed once during the winter, to 

 determine if is presently used. Inspection should be done by experienced bat biologists to 

 avoid awakening the bats and causing mortality. The literature suggests that this cave may be 

 a hibernaculum for Townsend's Big-eared Bat. If used by bats, restricted visitor access to this 

 site may be warranted, since some bats are sensitive to disturbance and may abandon a roost 

 or hibernaculum. The cave was not surveyed in 1994. 



3) Any abandoned coal mines and buildings on Forest Service land should also be checked for 

 hibernating and summer-roosting bats if possible. Starvation Butte Caves (T1S R59E) in the 

 Ekalaka Hills (see Campbell 1978) should be investigated in both summer and winter. 

 Records should be kept of any hibernating or roosting bats found, including locality, species 

 present, number, and date. 



4) Life history information and ecology is poorly known for most bat species in the Northern 

 Great Plains. Any specimens obtained should be preserved. Locality, date, and reproductive 

 status should be documented. This is especially true for the Northern Long -eared Myotis, Red 

 Bat, and Spotted Bat. 



5) If Great Horned Owl or other owl roosts and nest sites are known, pellets could be 

 routinely collected and examined for bat remains. A number of nocturnal raptors prey on bats 

 opportunistically, and sometimes systematically. American Kestrels will also prey on bats, 

 and their pellets could be examined as well. 



6) Large trees with natural cavities should not be removed. Besides providing nesting and 

 roosting sites for birds, some bats will use them for the same purposes. 



7) Because bats are vagile, some species may go undetected unless routine and long-term 

 monitoring is conducted. Such a program would be unprecedented in Montana and much of 

 South Dakota, and could potentially provide a wealth of information on bat biology currently 

 unavailable for this region. 



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