Post by Sharon Faulkner on Jul 24, 2006 7:25:02 GMT -5
Biologists catch, measure, tag to help protect bats
By Greg Kocher
CENTRAL KENTUCKY BUREAU
RICHMOND - The bats are on time. Biologist Josh Young had said that peak feeding time for bats would be from 9 to 10:30 p.m. Sure enough, just a few minutes after 9 Thursday night, Young and colleague Seth Bishop make their first catches of the night -- a red bat and a smaller Eastern pipistrelle.
Gently the two men untangle the tiny creatures from nets strung near Silver Creek, 6 miles west of Richmond. The red bat in Young's hands gnaws vigorously at his fingers. One hand is bare, the other covered with a batting glove. Young, who has been vaccinated against rabies, puckers and blows on the bat's head in a vain attempt to distract it. "Red bats can actually break the skin. But this guy is so little," says Bishop, who held the pipistrelle or "pip" for short.
Young, Bishop and other biologists who work for East Kentucky Power Cooperative have spent several summer nights catching bats in Madison and Garrard counties. They're trying to find out whether any endangered species of bat, such as the Indiana bat, roost near the possible route for a proposed new power line. "We want to make sure we protect those," Young said.
Indiana bats roost in trees during summer but hibernate in caves during winter. If endangered bats are found, it could mean that the power line would be built in winter. Or it could mean moving the line to another area. Even though the line is proposed to follow an existing 100-foot right of way, the easement will be widened by 50 feet. That means some trees will have to be cut. The utility doesn't want to cut dead trees along the edge of the existing right of way where endangered bats may roost.
And so, on a steamy night that fogs up eyeglasses and camera lenses, Young, Bishop and helper Isaiah Muller set up two nets. One stretches 30 feet across the gravel dead end of Bogie Mill Road, where the tree canopy of sugar maple, box elder and elm forms a kind of tunnel. Then the three men wade into Silver Creek to erect another 40-foot net near a leaning sycamore that spans the softly gurgling water. That done, they set up a makeshift camp of folding chairs and table behind a company vehicle. And they wait.
As the katydids began their nightly zee-zee zee-zee zee-zee chorus, tiny silhouettes can be seen flitting against the darkening sky. Bats come to feast on the banquet of mayflies, mosquitoes and other insects. "They're awesome, they eat so many bugs," Young said. "It's thousands of bugs that one bat will eat in a night. They eat moths that are crop pests. And they're just cute. You've got to love that."
But many don't. Populations of Indiana bats "have been pretty stable the past few years," Young said. "The big problem is that they're so susceptible to disturbance at their hibernating sites. "When they're in a cave, their body temperature is very low. When people go in and mess with them, it raises their body temperature and they can't make it through the winter because they'll use their stored energy reserves. "There have been cases where huge numbers of Indiana bats have been killed. There was a cave near Mammoth Cave that flooded and killed several thousand. But a lot of it is just human disturbance where people go in a cave and rake them off with sticks and stomp on them on the floor. There's just a lot of bad feeling or ill will against bats."
And despite the report of a bat that tested positive for rabies in Lexington last week, only a small percentage of bats are rabid, Young said.
Full Story: www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/15108276.htm
By Greg Kocher
CENTRAL KENTUCKY BUREAU
RICHMOND - The bats are on time. Biologist Josh Young had said that peak feeding time for bats would be from 9 to 10:30 p.m. Sure enough, just a few minutes after 9 Thursday night, Young and colleague Seth Bishop make their first catches of the night -- a red bat and a smaller Eastern pipistrelle.
Gently the two men untangle the tiny creatures from nets strung near Silver Creek, 6 miles west of Richmond. The red bat in Young's hands gnaws vigorously at his fingers. One hand is bare, the other covered with a batting glove. Young, who has been vaccinated against rabies, puckers and blows on the bat's head in a vain attempt to distract it. "Red bats can actually break the skin. But this guy is so little," says Bishop, who held the pipistrelle or "pip" for short.
Young, Bishop and other biologists who work for East Kentucky Power Cooperative have spent several summer nights catching bats in Madison and Garrard counties. They're trying to find out whether any endangered species of bat, such as the Indiana bat, roost near the possible route for a proposed new power line. "We want to make sure we protect those," Young said.
Indiana bats roost in trees during summer but hibernate in caves during winter. If endangered bats are found, it could mean that the power line would be built in winter. Or it could mean moving the line to another area. Even though the line is proposed to follow an existing 100-foot right of way, the easement will be widened by 50 feet. That means some trees will have to be cut. The utility doesn't want to cut dead trees along the edge of the existing right of way where endangered bats may roost.
And so, on a steamy night that fogs up eyeglasses and camera lenses, Young, Bishop and helper Isaiah Muller set up two nets. One stretches 30 feet across the gravel dead end of Bogie Mill Road, where the tree canopy of sugar maple, box elder and elm forms a kind of tunnel. Then the three men wade into Silver Creek to erect another 40-foot net near a leaning sycamore that spans the softly gurgling water. That done, they set up a makeshift camp of folding chairs and table behind a company vehicle. And they wait.
As the katydids began their nightly zee-zee zee-zee zee-zee chorus, tiny silhouettes can be seen flitting against the darkening sky. Bats come to feast on the banquet of mayflies, mosquitoes and other insects. "They're awesome, they eat so many bugs," Young said. "It's thousands of bugs that one bat will eat in a night. They eat moths that are crop pests. And they're just cute. You've got to love that."
But many don't. Populations of Indiana bats "have been pretty stable the past few years," Young said. "The big problem is that they're so susceptible to disturbance at their hibernating sites. "When they're in a cave, their body temperature is very low. When people go in and mess with them, it raises their body temperature and they can't make it through the winter because they'll use their stored energy reserves. "There have been cases where huge numbers of Indiana bats have been killed. There was a cave near Mammoth Cave that flooded and killed several thousand. But a lot of it is just human disturbance where people go in a cave and rake them off with sticks and stomp on them on the floor. There's just a lot of bad feeling or ill will against bats."
And despite the report of a bat that tested positive for rabies in Lexington last week, only a small percentage of bats are rabid, Young said.
Full Story: www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/15108276.htm