A Fringed myotis may star in the Radio Lillooet series.
From community radio station Radio Lillooet off the Fraser River of British Columbia comes a work-in-progress titled “Old Planet, Young People.” The final product will be eight pre-recorded documentaries on environmental research in and around Lillooet. But a lot of the program seems like it will be about critters.
There is, in fact, quite a bit to say about the animal population beyond the Radio Lillooet building. The two progenitors of the series, Leif Douglass and Fraser Adolph, have been keeping a blog about the work. There are bees drinking from raindrops to be interviewed, Hoary Bats to be considered, a Fringed myotis to be admired, and a Spider Mite Destroyer to be thanked for its role as “one of an organic hop farmer’s best friends.”
The district of Lillooet.
“The show is put together by young people who will be talking to people of all ages working in the environmental field and to young people in general about their environmental concerns,” the blog explains. It is supported by the Community Radio Fund of Canada’s Youth on the Air.
The blog also includes some audio interviews. I enjoyed this discussion with naturalist Vivian Birch-Jones about Spotted Bats:
“The Spotted Bats are magnificent. They’re big and they have these really beautiful white patches kind of on their shoulders and on their rump. They’re probably the most gorgeous bat that we have, but I’m still a fan of the Little Brown Bat. One Little Brown Bat . . . can eat 500 mosquitoes in their first hour of feeding at night. They’re a really important predator of insects, including agricultural pests and forest pests. And so we need our bats.”
There is also audio about radio tagged bears and those previously mentioned Spider Mite Destroyers.
An article about the series in Lillooet News says the shows will broadcast this fall and also be posted on the Radio Lillooet website.
