River site

To give background on river sites I have to say that they are the most challenging. You have to ford the river to set up, sting nets across, get bats out, and tear down. You are traversing algae-covered slippery, smooth rocks trying not to get gear wet.

Another thing to know is that every bat emerges in the evenings and then goes to get a drink. This is why we often net over puddles, ponds, creeks, and occasionally rivers. Hannah and I set up two high nets that were triple 18 meters. It took us a long time to get started because conditions were challenging to say the least. When we finally were making the final preparations to open the nets we were watching tens of bats flying around us. I opened my net and hers was most of the way open and bam! I had seven bats in the net, as I walk to the first one; eight, nine, ten, fifteen! I was overwhelmed with bats! I called Hannah over to help and our boss Chris even came down the hill to lend a hand and ID them all. At the end of the night we ended up sitting for only about fifteen minutes of the five hours and the grand total of bats was 66! Almost all of them were little browns. There was five or so reds, one big brown, two hoarys, and a handful of long ears. I have to say that my bat removal skills have been fine-tuned and now I am very confident, but that didn't last long. Confidence led to my carelessness when removing a big brown the next night and I put my finger in the wrong spot and got bitten. Oh well, no blood, just lesson learned.

We are here in Bellefonte, PA until next Tuesday, a week from today, and then half of the group will rejoin PATH and the other half will remain here with Chelsea.

back to work

With break over we all made our way back to WV. Parsons this time. We camped by a very pretty river. We are continuing the PATH project. All is going well. We are getting some bats. Yesterday myself, and five other techs moved to PA. Back to Bellefonte where this all began. We are staying at Chris' and commuting to our sites that are a continuation of the very first project that I did in Pine Creek area. We will be here for about a week, maybe more then back to PATH, although my end date of Aug. 5 is fast approaching.

Last night I worked with the Boss-man, Chris. We got 12 bats! That is one of my personal best nights. I was looking at the sky because there is a meteor shower that is occurring now. The peak is July 28th but I did see one very large meteor! It was a good night.

Break coming up

The fourth of July break is rapidly approaching. I have two more sites, then I am headed home! In the mean time I am still with the same team leader which is nice. It makes it easier to know one person's preferences and style and just stick with it for a while. Bat count has been low. One or two per night :( Oh well. Break is calling my name....

Bat catching

The bat catching has been slow but steady. This area just doesn't have a lot of bats. Two nights ago I caught six Long ears. Last night I had one Red and five Luna moths. Here are some pictures.

"Big" News

Due to the sensitive nature of the information and the possible ramifications for the PATH power line project I can't be specific. But I can say that while netting in WV a bat species was caught that was thought to be an endangered species (in VA). Upon further inspection we found that it was actually a closely related species that is not known to live this far to the north. The "bigger" discovery was that it was a lactating female, which means not only is it living here, it is also breeding. The following night we caught three more of this species. We are doing some telemetry on the first one to see where the maternal colony is roosting! This is "big" news for these cool looking bats. Chris wanted me to see it so I walked up a mountain with him while he went to ID it. I am happy he picked me.

In other news we are still in WV in the Charleston area. In a few days two groups will split off. Chris is sending me to the Monongahela National Forest to "round out my learning experience". I was told that this means he wants me to see a Cedalis (sp?) (Indiana bat). That is cool. I hope to see one. This project is also famous for lots and lots of bats! Up to 100 in one night!

White Nose Syndrome

Here is the long- expected message about white nose. White nose is a fungus that lives in caves. Scientists are unsure of the exact effects that the fungus has on the bats. I was told by my boss Chris that the fungus gets into the bats body and eats it from the inside out. This is what we are looking for evidence of on the wing membrane. It starts as little dots, and they look like small punctures. Punctures occur naturally so we look for the ones that are obviously fungus. In some pictures I have seen the wing only has half of the membrane left. In Chris' career he has noticed locations that used to have fifty bats a night now average one to five.

There are lots of precautions that we have to adhere to in order to avoid spreading the disease. We wear latex gloves when processing bats and don't let the bats touch our clothing. We bleach the nets and our boots between sites. Recently we have ordered painters suits to wear over our clothes. We toss them at the end of each site so we don't spread spores.

ATV madness!

What a long night! Last night our crew had atv sites. This is usually fine and a lot of fun! We strap on the nets and gear and ride to the location because it isn't accessible by car. We needed two atvs for the three locations we were running. Chris hauled one behind his van because he was the closest to our location. We also had one. After going down the wrong road into a cow pasture and then ending in someones yard (they had over 20 dogs) we had to find a way to back up the trailer and get out of there before anyone came out. It took a while because we had a goal to not turf the yard. As luck would have it, they must not have been home. When finally on the right road we followed Chris and went through SIX gates! We had to stop and unlock each one.

We finally reached the drop off spot and loaded up the atvs and headed out to the site... or so we thought. The only trail lead us in the wrong direction. We rode for an hour trying to find the right trail. Many times I had to get off to make a turn, stand on the side so it wouldn't tip, stop and fix the gear after it shifted, and avoid being wacked by branches. It is a good thing I'm not nervous going up and down 45 degree slopes on an overly packed atv with a driver that is stressed that we are late, therefore probably going a little too fast. We eventually come to a location on the gps where a trail should be. There is none. Maybe there was a trail there fourty years ago... the forest was a little less dense there so we tried it. I rode huddled behind Jason with my arms covering my head and face the entire way.

We reached site 17 finally! Do we have a corridor for the net to go in? Absolutely not. We broke branches, stomped little trees, and tied ropes to the bigger ones and pulled them back. Still we ended up raising the nets into branches. Chris said it would be best if we could walk to the next location (ours was conveniently placed at the end of the less dense strip). Aaron started out and was not making good progress because of the terrain. He ended up just coming back and helping us. One of the three sites was up. We opened the nets at 9:30pm (and hour late). After we were settled Jason and Aaron went scouting for the other sites for tonight. When they got back the five of us were all in the one site. We talked for a while but soon it was time to take the nets off. We all piled back on the atvs and went back to the truck. We met Chris and drove back out the six gates and the hour on the high way to get back to our hotel which at this point is after four. A good thing that came of the night was that Jason bought us all 99 cent vanilla cones from McDonalds! Tonight we leave early again for another set-up. Hopefully it will be smoother this time.

West Virginia

We traveled to WV and had safety training to mist net on a potential powerline location. It is called the PATH company. Last night we started netting here near Charleston. I worked with Julia and we didn't have any bats or squirrels or anything which makes for a long night. We had to use the ATVs to get into our location and on the way out at 2am the three of us all rode out and got lost. We finally found our way out and headed back to our hotel. Tonight we are going to have a meeting to figure out the schedule but as far as I know we are here for about two weeks.

Hoary Bat removal video

Things going on after telemetry

After telemetry we traveled to Rousch Creek to do netting. I did some netting with the Commander. We had a hike-in over boulders and mt. laurel while carrying about a 40lb bag of net poles. I was very proud of myself for not breaking an ankle or stopping to rest. I guess it is true that the tortoise wins the race. That night I caught my first big brown bat. They are one of the two species that everyone uses gloves for. That means that they bite... hard. Luckily I wasn't bit by either of the two I pulled out.

The next night I worked with Jason. The choice was another hike-in set up (for the second night) or to stay by the vehicle and have to set up by myself. I volunteered for the solo set-up. Jason went to hike with the other girls and told me to get started. As he was walking back I was admiring my handiwork. I finished the entire first net! He was surprised that I had finished it that quickly.

The picture on the top is of one half of a net. It is 30 ft. high.

In a hotel for a few days

In Harrisburg, PA for a night (actually morning seeing as it is 5 am). Tomorrow headed for WV to do safety training for netting in a power line area. Hopefully in the hotel I will have time to update everything and add a picture or two!

Another night of telemetry

My attitude has improved much over the last night. The weather was nice, not very cold, and most importantly, no rain. I sat in a yard next to an alpaca enclosure on a residential road. It was nice to be out of the woods for a night. I had the bat's signal for the entire night and even earned myself the nickname "angles" because I had the best and most consistent angles of the group for the night. Not to bad for someone who has only done this a few times before. The other guys were doing well too and we had a lot of triangles which makes the boss happy and thus us happy. All in all, it was a great night. I am now off to bed for a few hours before we have a hike out to the roosting site. It should be interesting. After that we track all night again and drive to the next site where we will sleep for a couple of hours and then go netting. Internet access in the future: unknown.

Hard, hard telemetry

We caught a small-footed bat. This is an endangered, or at least threatened species. This means we have to do five nights (ten hours each) of readings every five minutes. This is hard to begin with. Next throw in dead spots with the valleys and ridges, gear malfunctions, and coyote stalkings. Last night was the second night. It rained all night and down-poured for at least half. I was so wet. Jake's cross-bow receiver got too wet to work for the rest of the night.

He ended up taking mine and the Commander came up to take my spot. He has his receiver attached to his vehicle and can't go down the road that has a gate. I volunteered to walk down again with Jake because it was raining and crappy and there were many coyotes seen there the night before. As soon as we walked the 1/2 mile over terrible terrain the sky let loose. We hunkered down and eventually just came back. The bat wasn't moving. We ended up leaving at 4:20 and Commander just stayed to keep an eye on it.

We drove an hour to Chris' and slept until two. I am currently doing laundry worried that my clothes won't be anywhere near dry before we have to leave again :(

We have two more nights of this and one of those we have to actually hike in and find the cliff it's on and count when they emerge if we can.

They say this is the worst part of the job. I am not the happiest camper.

Third and Fourth Nights

We went to a new site. We had a hike-in and I didn't know what to expect. We got out there and a lady riding a horse followed by another horse and four dogs came over to see what we were doing. We had to carry out all of our personal gear and the nets (which weigh close to 50 lbs.!) Luckily we were only about a half mile away from our vehicles. Jenna and I had to set up by ourselves. It went mostly ok, but really frustrating at times. I was the one that knew what to do and I had only done it once before. Eventually we had both nets up and they were only slightly saggy. We had no bats all night. At 9:30 it started to sprinkle but soon stopped. By 10:30 we had a steady drizzle that continued into the night. It stopped for an hour at 12 but by then it was COLD. I was wearing every layer possible under my rain jacket and I even opened my umbrella to stay dry. We gave up reading early on, too cold, too wet. We tried to radio Jen, the nearest leader and found that our radio was dead. Lucky we didn't have any bats. Jen and Jake came over a little after midnight to check our temperature. 8.4 C. Definitely below 10. We took down out nets and went home early. The down side is that the night didn't count because it wasn't a full 5 hours. It rained all night and the next day until about 7pm. Chris said no netting tonight, too cold. Which means we are now behind by two nights. We sat in our cars and tents all day. We planned to go out to a larger town for the evening but the telemetry project too a long time. We ended up going to the campground restaurant and then later to a bar two miles down the road. That was a good waste of time. When we got back we had a campfire for an hour or two before bed.

This morning we got up a bit early because we went to bed a bit early. We woke up and started to bleach all the nets before we headed out to town about one for shopping and internet. Hopefully tonight will be warmer and we will have more luck.

First two nights of catching bats

The first night of catching was very interesting. We went out to Little Pine Creek, PA and set up in a camp ground. We are netting on a near-by ridge next to an oil rig. We are looking for occurrence of endangered species before they begin to build the pipe line. We set up five sites with two nets at each. I was at the last one with the boss, Chris. This was intimidating. I was doing my best to learn as we went along. The set up process was difficult because I am short and can't reach the top of the poles to tie on the lines. This is a problem. I was told that a girl 4.11 figured out a technique and so can I. The whole process is going to be about finding the right technique. We got it all set up and opened the nets at 8:30. We are required to net for five hours.

As soon as we opened the nets we caught four birds. Chris said it was because we started a little too soon. We check the nets every 10-15 minutes. On the very next check we had our first bat! I was excited. I was busy looking at him and making comments about the clicking noise and Chris had to remind me to lower the net. We wear latex gloves for each bat to avoid the spread of white nose syndrome. I also wear a golf glove under one. After Chris untangled what turned out to be a male little brown bat, he handed it to me and let me play with it for a few minutes. I quickly found that bats are angry about being stuck and bite and gnaw as much as possible when they are not flailing to get away. The bites don't hurt much but the gnawing does. The old-timers don't even wear the golf glove. They say "this is nothing." After releasing him we went a few more checks and got a male long-ear bat. In PA we have to radio track five females per location. We started the first night with two. Later in the night we had another bat in the net but it wasn't very stuck and got out on its own before we could grab it. In the down time I sat in the truck with Chris and read my book and ate some almonds to keep warm. On the first night we only have to unclip the nets before we leave. At one thirty we were unclipping and by a little after two we were back at camp.

I woke up early the next day (before noon) and willed myself to go back to sleep. I knew I would need it later. When I finally was up for the day we were told we were to be ready to go at 7pm. Eight hours from now! We are in a camp ground in a valley in the middle of no where with no cell reception for twenty miles. I finished my book, took a walk, talked with tow other girls (as everyone else had left to do telemetry) and realized it was still only 2:30! I ended up taking a nap to pass some time.

Seven rolls around and I am ready to go. It is a bit colder tonight. I am working with another new girl tonight because Chris is doing his own thing for the night. Set up was simple, we just clipped the nets back on and started out checks. Unfortunately it was quite cold, but on the line of quitting. It needs to be 10C or 50F to catch bats. We stayed at 52. The site that Chris was at got too cold at about midnight because he was on the other side of the crest. My partner, Hannah and I caught four bats in all. She pulled out two, Keith our identifier and expert, got one, and I worked on one for fifteen minutes but he was really stuck (to me) so Keith finished it up. It was fun handling more bats, and getting bit some more.

At one thirty we stared the tear down process. We had to take everything down because tomorrow we are going to a different spot. This process was long and harder because it was dark. Again it will be better with practice. I am dreading the time in the summer when we have to put up, check, and take down by ourselves. We rolled back into camp around four am. The camp is in the valley by the river. It was at least 5 degrees colder there than our sites. We had planned a campfire but everyone was tired and cold.

After sleeping in longer today we emerged ready to go again. Today we followed a leader into a nearby town, a thirty minute drive, and stopped at the library to get communication access. I can't wait to use my phone.

Our tentative plan is to catch bats tonight, and tomorrow night and on Wednesday go to a new location all together. This is dependent on the weather and us catching bats. I am ready to go somewhere new hopefully with better service. I will try to get pictures when I can.

Heading out!

It's finally Saturday afternoon. We are getting ready to meet all of the new people at a pizza shop in town. I am excited to meet them. After lunch we are going to get started. We will separate into groups and drive and learn out in the field. I am ready to get started although tonight will definitely be one of the longest of my life. I hear that my group won't be too far from civilization to start with, and I will try to keep this post as updated as possible. The picture to the right is of a really cool cloud formation we saw last night out getting dinner on the Penn State campus. There was a thunderstorm coming through and the sum was setting on the middle layer. The top was still white and fluffy. It was really neat.

Summer of the Bats

This summer I am working for Sanders Environmental. I will be catching bats with mist nets in three states; Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia. The most challenging aspect will be getting myself on "bat time" which is going to sleep at 2 or 3am and waking up around noon.

I drove to PA on Wednesday after my last rabies vaccine. The trip was twelve hours! I made it ten and stopped for the night. Thursday I woke up and drove the remaining two hours and started work around noon. I learned how to label the net bags, nets and transfer them without tangeling. There were hundreds to process. I am thankful for my job in Admissions because I have learned how to discipline myself and sit to do one job for a few hours. About two hours after I arrived another technician arrived. Her name is Lindsey. I am so thankful that she got here the same day I did! It was so much less awkward to have another person with me. We both learned how to string up mist nets, repair some holes, and take them down properly. All in all we worked for about six hours the first day. I am slowly trying to convert myself to "bat time." I made sure I stayed up until 11pm at least (even though I was tired at 8:). The plan is a little later each night.

Day two. Lindsey and I woke up around 10 (we tried to sleep in) and went to walmart to get rubber boots and alarm clocks. Around noon we started sorting the rest of the nets. That unfortunately didn't last long. The next 4-5 hours were spent repairing nets. (I can say nets plural but only barely. We only did two!) One of the nets had two broken main lines and about two dozen holes. What a process!

More tomorrow.