A survey of bat use of selected mines in the Pine Creek drainage, Shoshone County, Idaho

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At least 10 of the 14 species of bats found in Idaho have been known to use abandoned mines as maternity, roosting, or hibernacula sites at some time of the year. While abandoned mines may provide excellent habitat for bats, they are potentially a hazard to public safety. To deal with the human safety concern, mines are often filled, which closes them both to the public and to bats. Recognizing the importance of these mines to bat conservation, mining organizations have been encouraged to install bat-friendly gates designed to deny human access to the mines but allow bats their continued use. In order to determine whether a mine should be gated or permanently closed and filled, each mine shaft should be surveyed for bat use. When three priority mines were identified by the Bureau of Land Management as needing to be closed for public safety, the mines were surveyed simply to provide information on the presence of bat activity so that the managers of the mines could be better informed about how to proceed with mine closure: fill in or install bat-friendly gating. The primary survey technique was a bat detector. Mist nets were also used to provide much-needed information on species occurrence in the area. Each mine was surveyed up to three times if bat activity was not detected and as few as one time if bats were detected on the first visit. No bats were seen exiting or entering the first cave on the nights of 28 July, 21 August, or 23 August. Myotis evotis was detected (2 were mist netted) at the second mine on 25 August, and that species and M. volans were observed (2 M. evotis and 1 M. volans mist netted) in the third mine the same month. It is likely that two of the mines are used as a night roost. It is not known whether bats use the first mine at different times of the night or season.

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ELECTRONIC FILE - Zoology: Mammals, Processed Data, Bats

Citation: Soules, J., and E. Buchler. 2005. A survey of bat use of selected mines in the Pine Creek drainage, Shoshone County, Idaho. A Challenge cost-share report prepared for the Bureau of Land Management, Coeur d'Alene, ID. [4 p.].

NOTE that in our N05SOU01IDUS file are two maps, the report, and a list of our Observation numbers.