O’SHEA, CRYAN & BOGAN: UNITED STATES BAT SPECIES OF CONCERN 
117 
the Cibola National Forest of New Mexico, where they were the third most abundant species taken 
in mist nets (176 captured among 1,222 bats of 10-11 species) and were found at most capture sites 
in the Gallinas Mountains (Chung-MacCoubrey, 2005). In the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico, 
they ranked fourth in abundance with 106 taken among 1,532 individuals of 15 species captured, 
with males occupying higher elevations and females mostly encountered in lower-elevation habi¬ 
tats (Bogan et al., 1998). Echolocation activity of these bats was commonly detected in riparian, 
conifer, pinon-juniper, and ponderosa pine habitat that was intensely burned approximately 20 
years prior in the Jemez Mountains (Ellison et al., 2005). They also ranked third in relative abun¬ 
dance (25 among 302 bats of 10-11 species) among bats netted over water in mostly ponderosa 
pine habitat at 2,600 to 2,885 meters on Mount Taylor in northern New Mexico (Geluso, 2008). A 
survey that took place at 37 sites across several habitat types in much of New Mexico in 2006 
yielded 1,752 bats of 21 species with 87 individual long-eared myotis, ranking eighth in relative 
abundance (Geluso, 2006, 2017). 
Three studies assessed the relative abundance of bats at various locations in the San Mateo 
Mountains of west-central New Mexico. In ponderosa pine habitat of the Cibola National Forest, 
these bats were the second most abundant species taken (94 captured among 447 bats of seven to 
eight species) and also were found at most capture sites (Chung-MacCoubrey, 2005). Geluso and 
Geluso (2012) reported that they were the most abundant bat (536 captures among 1,390 bats and 
11 species) taken over a 34-year period at a pond in coniferous forest at 2,573 meters elevation in 
the San Mateo Mountains of New Mexico. They were low to intermediate in abundance, ranking 
eighth among 16-17 species (15 captures out of 855 individuals) in mist-net captures over ponds 
during 1970 at Nogal Canyon, Socorro County, in habitats described as pinyon-juniper, pine-oak 
woodlands, and mixed-conifer forest (Black, 1974). This species ranked tenth in relative abun¬ 
dance (61 captures among 1,595 bats of 20 species) in the Mogollon Mountains of western New 
Mexico and adjacent Arizona, including a site in the San Mateo Mountains, and it was most often 
captured in evergreen forest (Jones, 1965). In a separate analysis limited to three sites over water 
in western New Mexico and including additional years of sampling, long-eared myotis ranked sixth 
of 19 species (77 captures among 1,004 individuals) and were taken at the two high sites in pine- 
spruce-fir forests at 2,438 and 2,620 meters elevation (Jones and Suttkus, 1972). Somewhat farther 
south, Jones (2016) documented bats captured during surveys of various habitats in the Greater 
Gila region of Catron, Grant, and Sierra Counties of New Mexico; they ranked as least abundant, 
with one capture among 282 individuals of 16-17 species (Jones, 2016; including data from unpub¬ 
lished reports of others). 
Central Rocky Mountains: Colorado: The long-eared myotis was the second-most abundant 
species (186 bats) among 15 species and 1,996 individuals captured in mist nets in largely pinon- 
juniper and ponderosa pine habitats of Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado in 2006 and 2007 
(O’Shea et al., 2011a) and the most abundant species taken there during 1989-1994, with 73 bats 
captured among 189 individuals of 11 species (Chung-MacCoubrey and Bogan, 2003). Differences 
in relative abundance between the two studies were probably due to greater selection of smaller 
pools of water for netting during the earlier work: small pools were less available during the 2006- 
2007 study but were likely more easily approached for drinking by the highly maneuverable long¬ 
eared myotis than by other species (O’Shea et al., 2011a). These bats were the most abundant 
species (257 captures among 546 bats of 11 species) captured over stock ponds during surveys in 
pinon-juniper woodland at about 2,100 meters in the Uintah Basin of Moffat County in northwest¬ 
ern Colorado during 1979-1981 (Freeman, 1984). They were reported from Engelmann spruce- 
subalpine fir forest in the subalpine zone in west-central Colorado at an elevation of 3,100 meters 
(an elevational record) but were uncommon, with only two bats netted among 111 bats of four 
