Arizona Game And Fish Camera Captures Live Bat Action

By Christina Estes
Published: Friday, July 3, 2020 - 3:26pm

bunch of bats huddled together
Arizona Game and Fish
Bats captured by Arizona Game and Fish camera.

The camera is rolling for the third season of Arizona bats. The Game and Fish Department’s live streaming camera gives viewers a chance to observe the winged creatures hanging out in Safford.

The camera is positioned inside an old barn where at least five species of bats were first spotted on the Cluff Ranch property in 1992.

Angie McIntire, statewide bat project coordinator for Game and Fish, said Arizona has 28 species of bats with diverse homes — from under bridges and in trees to caves and mines. 

“We have bats that live in colonies of hundreds of thousands and then other species that, you know, they live by themselves or two or three other family members,” she said. 

McIntire said the best time to view the bats on the live feed is during the day, “There actually is always a lot going on, that they’re, you know, moving around or scratching. Sometimes they’re really noisy and you’ll hear a lot of chattering from the bats, it  almost seems like they're squabbling or communicating about something.”  

She said  the barn is used as a maternity colony where mothers will care for their pups until they’re ready to fly. 

Arizona Game and Fish runs five seasonal live-streaming cameras. Other cameras showcase the bald eagle, sandhill crane, great horned owl and desert pupfish.

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