World Bat Day!
Today we want to celebrate all of our insect eating superheroes along with some amazing work that is being done to help them out. Ove the last several years, White-Nose syndrome (WNS) has been damaging certain bat populations across North America. This syndrome is a fungal issue that affects bats during their hibernation. It irritates their skin to the point that they wake up in the middle of winter and since they don't have access to food and they need to spend so much energ
International Beaver Day!
Today celebrates one of our world's greatest engineers- the beaver. These rodents have amazing capacity to accumulate water in an area and alter hydrology. As climate change affects our planet, areas are subject to desertification, with water sources becoming more scarce and dry areas become even more arid. Beavers help to mitigate some of these effects- beaver ponds store water during wet times of years, and as water recedes in the dry months, water is released slowly into s
Happy Aquatic Animal Day!
There are so many amazing aquatic species in the world, and still new ones are getting identified, even here in the Okanagan. One newly identified species is the Okanagan Crayfish. While it was known that crayfish were in the area, many people thought that this crayfish was the same as the Signal Crayfish which is native to the Pacific Northwest. However, this population was found to be more distinct than your normal Signal Crayfish, so it became its own species. Okanagan Cra
Grabbing a meal with bats: Gleaners vs. Aerial Hawkers
All species of bats in the Okanagan and Similkameen are insectivores, so they only eat insects. No fruit or blood eating bats here. However, that does not mean that they catch insects in the same way. There are aerial hawkers, which scoop the insects straight out of the air, and gleaners, which pick the insects off the ground or other surfaces. Bat species can specialize in one of these techniques or they could use both depending on the situation. The Fringed bat that is foun
World Bear Day!
This time of year bears are going to start emerging from their dens if they haven't yet already, and they are going to be looking for food. Bears are omnivores, so they will be looking for anything that it high enough in calories. Unfortunately this is when bear-human interaction can take place. Due to food shortages from drought and wildfires these last couple of years, bears are visiting urban areas more frequently since they can find an easy meal there. However, there are
