Part 2

The long-eared myotis is not uncommon in and around wooded buttes. The species may be mostly limited to these areas; an individual of unknown sex found dead in a small stream southeast of Harding (several miles south of the East Short Pine Hills) is the only specimen not taken in such a situation. North of Camp Crook, on the eastern edge of the Long Pine Hills, several M. evotis used an abandoned shed as a night roost in the summer of 1970; one was captured in a bat trap set at one of the entrances to the shed.

Females obtained on May 29 and June 17 and 19 carried single embryos that measured 3, 14, and 15, respectively. A male young of the year taken on August 6 was nearly of adult size. Testes of two May-taken males measured 4 and 2, whereas those of one taken on July 17 and another captured on August 3 measured 6.0 and 7.5, respectively.

Of seven adults collected in the period August 3 to 6, three females and two of four males were in fresh pelage; molt was nearly completed on the two remaining males. A male taken in mid-July was in an early stage of molt. New pelage is pale yellowish brown in contrast to the golden brown pelage of specimens taken in May and June.

Chiggers, Leptotrombidium myotis (Ewing), were found on the ears of one long-eared myotis.

~Myotis leibii ciliolabrum~ (Merriam, 1886)

Small-footed Myotis

Eight males of this saxicolous species were shot or netted as they foraged over a small man-made pond in wooded Deer Draw in the Slim Buttes, 10 mi. S and 5 mi. W Reva--six in late June and two in early August. Probably this bat will be found in rocky areas elsewhere in the county. One specimen taken on June 23 was molting over much of the body.

~Myotis lucifugus carissima~ Thomas, 1904

Little Brown Myotis

Specimens examined (27).--2 mi. N, 5 mi. W Ludlow, 1; NW 1/4 sec. 15, R. 5 E, T. 22 N, 4; NE 1/4 sec. 24, R. 8 E, T. 21 N, 20; 4 mi. S, 7 mi. W Ladner, 1; 10 mi. S, 5 mi. W Reva, 1.

This bat is widely distributed in northwestern South Dakota and was the only species of Myotis reported by Visher (1914:91) in his early natural history survey of Harding County. We took specimens from several of the wooded buttes and also in areas well-removed from timber; one was shot, for example, as it foraged over the Little Missouri River in the extreme western part of the county. On May 28, 1968, a barn was located in which an incipient maternal colony (several hundred adult females) roosted between double rafters supporting a metal roof. The owner of the barn, Robert Parks of Ralph, stated that bats have utilized this place as a summer roost for several years. The barn stands adjacent to the nearly treeless Big Nasty Creek, which flows through the hilly terrain of the northeastern section of the county.

Fourteen of 20 females taken from the colony each carried a single embryo (crown-rump lengths measured 2 to 11 with a mean of 5.4). The other six were not visibly pregnant upon gross examination but had enlarged uteri, possibly indicating recent implantation. Of the remaining females from Harding County, three collected on May 29 had enlarged uteri, whereas two collected in late June evidenced no gross reproductive activity. A male obtained May 29 had testes that measured 4.

Ectoparasites obtained from this species include chiggers, Leptotrombidium myotis (Ewing), a tick, Ornithodoros kelleyi Cooley and Kohls, fleas, Myodopsylla gentilis Jordan and Rothschild and M. insignis (Rothschild), and an unidentified species of mite.

~Myotis volans interior~ Miller, 1914

Long-legged Myotis

Specimens examined (43).--2 mi. N, 5 mi. W Ludlow, 4; NW 1/4 sec. 15, R. 5 E, T. 22 N, 12; 10 mi. S, 5 mi. W Reva, 27.

The long-legged myotis is one of the commonest bats of the wooded buttes, accounting for almost half of all chiropterans taken in these areas. Most of our specimens were shot as they foraged among trees and over water in the evening; a few were captured in mist nets.

Uteri of eight females obtained in the period May 23 to 31 were enlarged; two females collected on June 29 carried single embryos that measured 20 and 22. A lactating female was taken on August 3, but three other adult females taken early in the same month evidenced no reproductive activity. Testes measured 2 to 4 in three May-taken males and 4 in each of two from June.

Two males obtained June 16 and 23 were molting as evidenced by new hairs under the old pelage over much of the body.

Myotis volans that we examined for ectoparasites harbored chiggers, Leptotrombidium myotis (Ewing), and fleas, Myodopsylla gentilis Jordan and Rothschild.

~Lasionycteris noctivagans~ (LeConte, 1831)

Silver-haired Bat

A single female, which contained two embryos that measured 4, represents the only record of a silver-haired bat from Harding County. This specimen was shot at dusk on June 1, 1968, as it foraged over a small pond in Deer Draw of the Slim Buttes (10 mi. S and 5 mi. W Reva). Several other bats believed to be of this species were seen at the same place that evening. We initially assumed that these were late migrants, but recent findings indicate that this species is a common summer inhabitant of the Long Pine Hills in adjacent Carter County, Montana, and likely, therefore, also a resident in favored sites in Harding County.

~Eptesicus fuscus pallidus~ Young, 1908

Big Brown Bat

Specimens examined (11).--NW 1/4 sec. 15, R. 5 E, T. 22 N, 3; 7 mi. N, 2 mi. W Camp Crook, 3300 ft., 2; 10 mi. S, 5 mi. W Reva, 6.

The big brown bat is a common inhabitant of the Slim Buttes and North Cave Hills, where individuals were shot or netted as they foraged over water or among trees late in the evening.

Two May-taken females had enlarged uteri and one taken on July 8 was lactating. The testes of a May-taken male measured 5, whereas those of one obtained in early July measured 9. One of two males shot on August 4 was a young of the year; the other, an adult, was in fresh pelage as was an adult male shot on July 8. The July-taken lactating female and three June-taken specimens were in old pelage. Several specimens were parasitized on the ears by chiggers, Leptotrombidium myotis (Ewing).