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| So it's time for another Bat Count! Brave volunteers take on the only cold weather this winter so far! | But this has been one very warm winter (Jan. was the warmest on record!) and everything is dry dry dry! So we did not drive to the entrances.... we walked..... | That way our catalectic converters wouldn't burn down half the state (we are in extreme fire danger) (with 20-30 mph North winds today!) |
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| We had a new bat counter with us this time.... Mark was learning the ropes and getting his first exposure of one of our SW Oklahoma caves..... Jester Cave System | We didn't know what to expect.... a severe drought and a very warm winter so far, yet.... it was 28 today with a very cold north wind.... | The pond at the resurgence was at a very low point... and covered in a small layer of ice. The main passage had little or no water present where there used to be a running stream. |
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| So the team gets ready to head into the south entrance. | We have four members for this bat count. One doing book and three doing the counts. | We take temperatures of the rock where the bats are sleeping, the air, mud, and water below them. |
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| These are common cave bats (Myotis velifer) | They tend to bunch up in groups and as you can see, they pack in very close! | John was our recorder. The counters call out the numbers as they see them and it is the recorder's job to hear and get it all down! |
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| You have to look everywhere! These little guys love little cracks where they weggie themselves up into for the winter! | You can see here the size of them in a scale picture (use the light... not the fat guys hand for scale!) : ) | Look closely... see the bats in the crack?? (you may have to double click on the picture to see the full size to see them) |
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| How many do you see here? They can blend with the rock itself it sometimes seem. There are four myotis in this picture. | Jester is a great place for a bat count... at least for us! Very little low spots.... LOTS of standing and walking spots! | Here is a pip (pipistrellus subflavus). Pips like warmer sections of the cave and usually have water condensation on them and they look like they are decorated with pearls. |
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| As we went further into the cave...it got quite warmer. It was 45 degrees near the entrance and 58 in the back tunnels were we were meeting the pips. | The recorder gets in a nice comfortable spot and is writing while others call out numbers. | A caller might call out 2, 3, 5, 1 pip, 1, 2 which means 2 myotis, 3 myotis, 5 myotis, 1 pip, 1 myotis, and 2 myotis. It is recorded as 2,3,5,1P,1,2. |
Macintosh 
