Bats

This big brown bat was captured at Montezuma Well during research in 2014.

NPS Photo

Dr. Edgar A. Mearns, an army surgeon at Fort Verde from 1884 to 1888 and early excavator at Montezuma Castle, reported four feet of bat guano on the fourth floor rooms! Even accounting for exaggeration, that's a lot of guano. Today, the park studies the bats that call Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well home. A small colony of Townsend's big-eared bats return to Montezuma Well to raise their young each year. Bats are extremely important as pollinators and eat many insects including mosquitoes and moths.

At least 14 different species have been recorded at Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well. Four of those 14 species are of special concern. Two of them, the western red bat and Townsend's big-eared bat, are on the Arizona State Wildlife Action Plan as a Tier 1A species, meaning that they are species of greatest conservation need. These species in addition to big brown bats and little brown bats are affected by white-nose syndrome (WNS), a disease caused by a fungus that humans can spread from one underground space to another on our clothing and equipment.

While WNS has not yet been found in Arizona, it has spread across the US and Canada since it was first discovered in New York in 2005. The fungus that causes the disease is native to Europe and Asia but was not known to science until after it was accidentally introduced to caves in the US. Infected bats are found with fuzzy white patches of the fungus on their noses and wings. The fungus causes bats to wake up from hibernation and use precious energy in a time when food is unavailable. In some cases, 99% or more of infected bats starve and die. However, across the country, different agencies including national parks are coming together to test different vaccines and methods of controlling the fungus. Learn more about the efforts to combat white-nose syndrome.

Other threats to bats in Arizona include pesticide exposure from eating contaminated insects and introduced predators like domestic housecats.

Help us protect bats by respecting trail and cave closures.

Learn more about how you can help bats at home!

 

Bat Species Identified at Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well

Townsend's Big-eared Bat (Corynorhinus townsendii)	Mexican Free-tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensis)
Western Red Bat (Lasiurus blossevillii)	Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus)
Western Small-footed Bat (Myotis ciliolabrum)	Long-legged Myotis (Myotis volans)
Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus)	California Myotis (Myotis californicus)
Yuma Myotis (Myotis yumanensis)	Long-eared Myotis (Myotis evotis)
Western Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus hesperus)	Fringed Myotis (Myotis thysanodes)
Silver-haired Bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans)	Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus)

 

How does the NPS study bats?

Bat Science