BATS OF WASHINGTON STATE

Bats of Washington State is a digitally-illustrated book of the 15 bat species that can be found in Washington state. Each page is cut by hand to mimic the shape of the bats printed on either side of it, and to emphasize the change in scale as the bats in the book are organized smallest to largest. Each illustration was made approximately to-scale, so that the reader can get a hands-on sense of how big each bat is. Each bat is accompanied by information that species, including their presence in Washington (which may be year round or seasonal due to migration), their habitat, their conservation status on an international and state level, and their geographic range. Some bats that are particularly threatened in Washington have an additional section highlighting the notable threats to the species or local population, which often include climate change, human infrastructure, and White Nose Syndrome. The book is bound in a Japanese stab binding style, with the covers glued over the top of the binding, which hides the stitching but makes the open book appear like a bat in flight due to the cover illustrations.

In Washington state I often see bats swooping around at dusk in the warmer months, but they are just a dark blur, and I have never been able to identify what species I am seeing. Before making this book I had wrongly assumed we had just a handful of bat varieties in Washington, but after deciding to learn more about the bats we have I was amazed to learn we have 15 species present. While my local bats still move too fast for me to identify them, this project and the research involved allowed me to learn which bats they could be and narrow the list of possibilities. Bats have been vilified in cultures around the world, including here in the US, and my hope is that anyone who picks up this book will learn to empathize and care for bats a bit more, and realized that they are an important part of every ecosystem they are a part of.