MURPHY, Idaho — Swan Falls Dam is home to approximately 2,000 female bats, the largest maternity colony in Idaho. A fact, Casey Pozzanghera, a regional wildlife biologist says many people do not realize.
Each spring Snake River's oldest hydroelectric dam becomes the breeding ground for the female Yuma Myotis bats and the place they raise their offspring.
Much is already known about the daily routine of these creatures, when they come out at night to drink and feed, but wildlife experts would like to understand more about their seasonal habits.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game, in conjunction with Idaho Power, is studying the bats at Swan Falls Dam to learn more their ecology, according to Pozzanghera.
Biologists use automated acoustic monitors to record bat calls, which allow experts to pinpoint when the colony leaves the dam in the fall and when the females return in the spring.
Additionally, the monitors chart whether any usual activity occurs during the winter, an indicator of disease outbreak.
Biologists are specifically on the lookout for white-nose syndrome, a fatal fungal disease that has killed millions of bats in North America, according to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
Experts say white-nose syndrome has been detected in the surrounding states of Washington and Wyoming but has not yet appeared in Idaho.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the National Wildlife Health Center continue to collect environmental and biological samples from the bat colony in an effort to protect Idaho's bat populations.
