Bats of South-Central Montana with Emphasis on the Pryor Mountains

The Montana Natural Heritage Program conducted a bat survey from 2001 to 2003 to document the presence of bat species of conservation concern and to document a wider distribution and habitat associations of all bat species in the region. The Pryor Mountains harbor a great diversity of bat species in Montana, including three species listed as ‘sensitive’ by the BLM or as ‘species of concern’ by the Montana Natural Heritage Program and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks: pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus), spotted bat (Euderma maculatum), and Townsend’s big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii). Water sources, mines and caves are important habitat features for bats, particularly in the Pryor Mountains. At Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area in the past, sightings were made of long-legged myotis with young from the Hillsboro spring and a pallid bat and two spotted bats were captured in the Layout Creek area. Given the significance of the Pryor Mountains area for bats, they suggest that 1) a comprehensive bat conservation plan for the Pryor Mountains be developed to guide future management activity affecting bats and bat habitat, preferably in coordination with the Custer National Forest and possibly the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, and 2) additional surveys for bats be undertaken in the Bull Mountains and along the Yellowstone River corridor to identify the habitat associations and relative importance of these areas for the bat fauna. The springs of Bighorn Canyon are high probability areas to find additional bat occurrences.