Marty Brown
Northern News Services

NNSL (Nov 04/98) - Work on the NCC office complex building in Arviat was proceeding as usual last week until a bat was found on the premises.

"It looked like a bird, but it wasn't moving. I poked it with a measuring tape and it came right at me," said drywaller Harry White who was standing on a scaffolding. "It frightened the life out of me!"

Bats are not common to the Arviat area, especially ones with a wingspan between 26-28 centimetres and a body measuring 14 centimetres.

"There was 22 local guys running around. The bat had big teeth!" White said.

Nobody had ever seen one before, so after much confusion and running around, they picked it up, put it in a bag and took it to the Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development Office for identification.

"It was a hoary bat. They roost in trees or dark corners so I think this bat roosted in a packing crate and ended up in Arviat. Either that or it really screwed up because they are supposed to migrate to Central America in August," said the regional biologist Mitch Campbell in the RWED office.

The bat was in a light hibernation state when turned into the wildlife office, not moving too quickly, but in the warm office it's starting to move around in its cage. It is Canada's largest bat.

"We're trying to stabilize him but because these bats are rarely seen in Canada there's not a lot known about it," Campbell said. "I've got feelers out to bat experts before I ship it south."

Right now the bat is in a cage kept in a relaxed state. Campbell says it's hard on bats to move in and out of hibernation. Until he hears from the expert, the bat will be kept in a relaxed state in the office.

Campbell's feeding it chicken and there's water available in its cage.

Is it a vampire bat? No! Vampire bats have a bad reputation Campbell said, they're only doing their job.

The hoary bat is nocturnal so it spends most of its time hanging upside down in the corner of the cage, just like it was doing before it was rudely bothered by the light and warmth of the NCC building.

The hoary bat doesn't seem to be afraid of people so Campbell planned on taking on school tours.

The range of the hoary bat is 100 kilometres north of Lake Winnipeg in central Manitoba, but little brown bats are sometimes found this far North -- in the summer. The bat is very beautiful, Campbell said, with three shades of brown fur frosted with white tips