The Need for a Home

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"We know from our studies that this church is used by the same bats year after year. Bats banded in 1987 were still there in 1993 breeding and raising their young," Chris stated. In 1989 the church and its colony was the subject of Fifth Estate, a national television program.

In the second week of June, bats begin birthing their young. The normally lone offspring is born naked, helpless, and weighing about two grams. Bats are the only mammals that can truly fly; navigating by echolocation, every night each female soars off in search of food. When she returns to the maternity colony to feed her young, by some mysterious process she is able to identify her own among the squeaking mass.

In four weeks the young are the same size as their mothers. Shortly after that they are flying and on their own. In late summer the bats migrate to a hibernation site.

In 1990, while doing research for the North Shuswap Historical Society, Vera Ellaschuk ventured into the bat church. Even though the lower level remained open, the attic was concealed behind a padlock, and Vera went first to the Shuswap Indian Band office to get the key. There she was directed to a native woman who would supposedly accompany her. However, the woman had other ideas and let Vera know in no uncertain terms that she was on her own.

Vera's husband elected to wait in the car, clutching the key and her camera while she stepped inside the church. Despite an overbearing stench and a steady squeak, squeak, squeak, she found the interior of the church remarkably in order. The pews still stood in neat rows and the linoleum sparkled. A potbellied stove sat staunchly, while the altar, behind a rail of lathe-turned balustrades, was still enhanced with statues and candles.

At the back of the church, stairs led up to a choir loft. As Vera approached, the steady zing, zing, zing increased in volume and intensity as the bats sensed her presence.

Tremulously, she unlocked the trap door that led to the realms above. In the cracks and crevices of mammoth rafters hung gobs of bats. Vera aimed her camera and shot. One flash ignited both the bats and Vera in flight.

She later made arrangements to return to the attic this summer, this time in the company of Chris Harris. It is regrettable that the blaze made ashes of their plans.

Over the years the Band had shown a tolerant attitude toward the bats. This past spring a meeting was held to discuss alternative housing for the Yuma bat colony. Members from the community, including representatives from the Band, the Ministry of the Environment, the schools, and the Squilax store met to hash out ideas for accommodating the colony when they would return in the spring, in late April or early May.

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