Washington’s 362 Yuma myotis records lean west, with Clallam County alone holding 114 and San Juan and Mason counties adding more, though the bat reaches east to Chelan and Asotin as well. Olympic National Park and San Juan Islands National Monument anchor the named places, and the through-line connecting them all is water.
A bat that hunts over water
Few bats are as tied to water as this one. The Yuma myotis forages low over ponds, sloughs, estuaries, and slow river reaches, taking midges, caddisflies, and other small insects rising off the surface, and it roosts in buildings, bridges, caves, and hollow trees, usually within an easy flight of open water. Where Washington’s map shows this bat, it is also showing lakeshores and quiet river miles.
Most visible in late summer
Counts build from May to a sharp August peak, then fade to nearly nothing by November. Young bats are on the wing by midsummer, swelling the number of animals hunting each night, and by late fall the bats retreat to caves, mines, and buildings to wait out the cold months in torpor.
Status in Washington
NatureServe ranks the Yuma myotis S4, Apparently Secure, in Washington, and the species is native to the state. USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
Full species profile
