Fig. 42. Entrance to Boulder Cave, inhabited by long-eared bats (Corynorhinus); Kittitas County, Washington, May 26, 1938. (Fish and Wildlife Service photo by Victor B. [Scheffer], No. 56.)
John K. [Townsend] (1839: 325) mentions that the "great-eared bat" at the forts of the Columbia River district (Fort Vancouver) were protected by the "gentlemen of the Hudson's Bay Company for their services in destroying the dermestes which abound in their fur establishments." [Townsend] mentions also that the long-eared bats seldom left the "storehouses attached to the forts," even at night. My own observations are similar, in that at Boulder Cave, Kittitas County, on July 7, 1936, when not less than 100 long-eared bats were present in the cave, I watched the entrances to the cave until an hour after dark but no bats were seen to emerge. All of the specimens available from Washington were caught in their daytime hiding place. The number of long-eared bats at Boulder Cave has decreased in recent years. On July 12, 1930, bats were so abundant that 90 were captured with a single sweep of a butterfly net (T. H. [Scheffer], 1930: 11). On July 7, 1936, it was estimated that there were slightly more than 100 in the cave. On June 11, 1937, the number was less, probably about 75.
Little is known of the food habits of the long-eared bat. The stomach of a specimen from Blakeley Island, San Juan County, was crammed with the remains of insects, including the wing scales of Lepidoptera and the wings of small Diptera.
[Scheffer] noted that the long-eared bats at Boulder Cave were nearly ready to give birth to young on July 12, 1930, and were carrying naked young a week later. On July 7, 1936, at the same locality, females contained nearly full-term embryos.
Fig. 43. Distribution of the long-eared bat in Washington. A. Corynorhinus rafinesquii townsendii. B. Corynorhinus rafinesquii intermedius.