Alberta Community Bat Program

Hey Medicine Hat! Check out the bat event! Always a fun evening to go out looking for bats (and learning new bat facts)!

Join this evening walk to explore the wonderful world of bats! Do they suck human blood? Do they get tangled in your hair? Are they blind? We will share the answers to these questions during this family-friendly public program. Hopefully, we may see some bats, and maybe even hear them! The walk will begin from the front of the Heritage Pavilion in Strathcona Park on Saturday, June 6th, 2026 from 9:00PM – 10:00 PM.

Registration is required for this program, and we are asking for a $5 donation per person to the Medicine Hat Interpretive Program to attend this program, which will be matched up to 50% through Rogers Birdies for Kids presented by AltaLink. Registration is required for this program.

Rogers Birdies for Kids presented by AltaLink is a non-profit program under the
Calgary Shaw Charity Classic Foundation. This program is designed to help raise
new funds for local charities, engage the community in the tournament, and
provide matching funds for each charity involved.

To register for this program, call 403-529-6225 or come down to the Nature Centre. For more information about this or any of our other programs, call us, visit our website (www.mhip.ca) or follow us on social media .

! Our field work for 2026 has started! We start early to get a better assessment of bat condition as they emerge from hibernation. This year we are swabbing wings to examine "microbiomes" (the community of bacteria and fungi on bat wings) and swabbing for an additional study with the University of Calgary Faculty of Vet Med to look at bat health. We are also photographing bat wings to assess wing damage from white-nose syndrome. We are also applying the probiotic at treatment sites and comparing them to non-treatment sites. You can read about the probiotic in "The Roost Report" herehttps://www.albertabats.ca/wp-content/uploads/Roost_Report_006_Probiotics.pdf

Come visit us at the Bow Habitat Station today! Here until 3pm!

Want to learn a little bit more about the bats native to the Kootenay Region? 🦇
Introducing the little brown bat! One of the most common bats in our area, you'll often spot these little guys roosting on the sides of buildings!

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Sources:
https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/nl/terranova/nature/eep-sar/bat
https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/14176/208031565
https://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Myotis_lucifugus/

Image Credits:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:White-nose_syndrome_growth_in_Myotis_lucifugus.JPG

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Myotis_lucifugus_map.svg

We had a great and sunny "Day on the Creek" with the Waterton Biosphere Region! 850 students were registered for the day and it was a steady stream of classrooms visiting the bat booth and making flappy bats! Thank you to everyone for making it such a great day.

Going batty. Students explored the world of bats - listening to their calls, examining specimens, and learning how to become community scientists!

Photo by Thomas Porter

Mark your calendars! 16 July! It's time for the "Moth Ball"!! We will be there with the bat booth - see the attachments for details. and area!

Location: Pembina Nordic Centre
Date: Thursday, July 16, 2026
Admission: FREE family-friendly event