Bats

Last night I had the unique opportunity of going into the national park and observing part of a government study on bat populations. If I remember correctly, this study is part of a follow-up to a similar project conducted in the ’80s, with the goal of comparing the results of the bat species in various parts of the park to see how things have changed/remained the same.

(Pallid Bat)

The researchers use a special type of bat netting (pictured below) to capture the bats. Although you can see it in the flash photo below, once dusk settles in, it is virtually impossible to see even with the human eye. The nets are set up in areas (mostly along pools of water) where bats tend to travel. When they fly into it, they get tangled up and the researches can then handle them and take down the information they need.

(Bat Net)

It was a relatively slow evening. We only ended up with three bats in hand, even though they were flying all around us. Only a few nights before they captured ninety-five bats in another part of the park. I believe they had counted a total of fifteen or sixteen different species.

(Fringe-Tailed Myotis)

The three species we saw last night were the Fringe-Tailed Myotis, the Pallid Bat, and the Hoary Bat. The first two were rather gentle, but the Hoary Bat was downright ferocious. Needless to say, I didn’t handle any bats, but I was thrilled that they let me come and take some pictures. It was definitely a “Discovery Channel” moment.

(Hoary Bat)