I have been extremely stressed the past few week and have not been getting much sleep. Since I am up in the middle of the night most night I thought I might as well use that time wisely. So, a few weeks ago I got a research technician job working with bats. In case any of you weren't sure, bats are nocturnal and are up in the middle of the night as well!
We are studying the spread of 'white nose syndrome' which, if I remember correctly, is a deadly fungal infection that spreads very easily between bat populations. As you can see in the picture above, we go to old train tunnels to trap bats. You can't see it very well but right in front of the tunnel is a giant net that covers the entire entrance. The square that you see in the middle of the 'net' is where the bats try to fly through. The square section is lined with rows of fishing line. The bats will fly into the fishing line and fall down into a bag at the bottom where we collect them. Since I don't have my rabies vaccines I don't get to handle the bats but I'll do the data recording, sterilizing, and help with the setup/takedown.
This is a view of our work area looking down from the top of the tunnel.
This is our work station where we bring the bats back to work on.
Last night we caught our first bat of the season and it just happened to be a small-footed bat which is a state endangered species and probably soon a federally endangered species. These are the bats we really want to find (although any bat is good!) When we find the small-footed bats we attach a radio telemetry tracker on them so we can follow them over the following 2 weeks after capture and release.
They let me name the bat because I came up with a funny name! At least I thought it was funny. When we catch a bat and record the data for it we have to make note of what species it is. We use 4 letter codes that are abbreviated for their scientific name. The small-footed bat is abbreviated MYLE. Naturally Miley Cyrus came to mind. Myle, Miley, get it?! However, since it is a boy bat I just named it Cyrus. Come on, thats funny right? :}
Here we are getting ready put an ID band on his wing.
I love this picture!! Hopefully you can blow it up after I publish this post. He's not angry, he's just saying 'cheese' :}
This is a picture of the bat after we had the transmitter attached, right before he was released.
Me with the bat.
Lisa (my office mate) with the bat.
Juliet (my boss) with the bat.
3 comments:
Hmmm, I had no idea that you've been having so much trouble sleeping. I think your way of dealing with it is very.....interesting, though! Looks like a lot of fun -- you know, if you like that kind of thing. Cyrus is a great name, and yes, you're very cute and fun! :] Thanks for posting about it!
So when do you sleep then?? Sounds real interesting (not for me, but I am sure you are enjoying it)! Cyrus is very cute!
Wow! Those pictures of the bat look ... creepy even if the thing is really super teeny. Glad you're enjoying it, though. Maybe you should get your rabies vaccine so you can play with them.
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