Wyoming holds eleven records of the yuma myotis, and they’re scattered from corner to corner: Lincoln County in the southwest leads with four, while Big Horn and Sheridan in the north, plus Natrona, Sweetwater, and Teton, each contribute one or two. Named spots include Fossil Butte National Monument and the Teton Wilderness, both sitting near the rivers this bat hunts over.
Records run from April into September, with August the busiest month. The yuma myotis forages low over open water, so any Wyoming sighting is tied to a river, reservoir, or marsh, and the record’s thinness likely owes as much to dark, difficult survey work as to the bat itself.
NatureServe ranks it S1, critically imperiled, in Wyoming, even though the species is considered secure across its full western range. That contrast marks Wyoming as the cold, high edge of the bat’s world. Whether it’s a rare resident, a seasonal visitor, or simply undercounted along the state’s big rivers is exactly the kind of question eleven records can’t answer.
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