Gender: Female
Status: Swinger
Age: 32
Sign: Gemini
City: Austin
State: Texas
Country: US
Signup Date:
06/17/06
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Tuesday, March 11, 2008
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Attend BCI’s Presentation in San Diego!
I just found out that BCI is going to San Diego! So, since I can fly about 60 mph, and I am still spending my winter in southern Mexico, I had better leave now!!
Hope to see some San Diego bat fans there!
xoxox
~Lupita
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Join Bat Conservation International for ..:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
THE FASCINATING WORLD OF BATS:
New Discoveries, New Challenges
Bats are fascinating and wonderful creatures that provide vital assistance to ecosystems. In this program we will explore the diversity within the order Chiroptera and discuss the latest threats to bats in the ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />United States, including the alarming new cases of White-nose syndrome.
Saturday, March 29, 2:00-3:00 pm
The Otto Center, San Diego Zoo
(The Otto Center is located 50 yards south of the main Zoo entrance. Parking is available in the main lot. You will NOT be required to pay Zoo admission to enter the Otto Center.)
Space is limited, so please reserve your tickets here!
Questions? Contact:
Sarah Gerichten
sgerichten@batcon.org or (512) 327-9721 x42
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Saturday, March 08, 2008
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Bats On The Move!
Bats are on the move in Florida!
Some of you may remember the interview I did with Steve, Mega Bat House Builder! Click here to read my Interview with Steve !
In the interview he mentioned the Spirit of Suwannee Mega Bat House... and just recently, an entire colony of bats has decided to move in and call it home!
For lots of great photos of Mega Bat House construction by Steve, including construction of the Suwannee Mega Bat House, visit his profile here!
Welcome home, bats!
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Thursday, February 21, 2008
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Bats dying from mysterious syndrome
I am hoping that some of my wildlife biologist friends out there can shed some light on this syndrome that is killing the bats in the Vermont and New York area.... see the article below. Any thoughts on this?
xoxox
~Lupita
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Location: USA State of New York, Vermont
A new mysterious and deadly illness of bats has struck New England's largest bat cave, a cavern in a Dorset mountain where 23,000 bats spend the winter, a state wildlife biologist confirmed today. Scott Darling saw the signs as he approached Aeolus cave Thursday. Carcasses of the tiny creatures lay in the snow. More bats flitted around the mouth of the cave, unnatural behavior for a frigid February day. "It was as though they were running out of energy and their last effort was to go outside in search of food," Darling, a biologist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, said today. "White-nose syndrome," which killed as many as 11,000 bats in caves around Albany, N.Y., last winter, also was identified for the first time in a Massachusetts cave last week. In New York, the illness has been confirmed at nine caves and is suspected at two more. Aeolus is the second Vermont bat hibernaculum, or overwintering site, afflicted by white-nose syndrome. Biologists do not yet understand what is killing the creatures — only that they have never seen this before. The dead bats are emaciated, as though starving. A white fungus furs their noses. Autopsies show lung congestion, as though they had pneumonia. Whatever the cause, it kills with deadly efficiency. Bat populations have plummeted more than 90 percent in the two New York caves where the syndrome was first identified last winter.
The illness is so new, biologists have not yet mapped its geographic spread, nor determined what its effect might be on bat populations in the Northeast. "It is obviously a grave concern," Darling said. "Bats are long-lived animals with low reproductive rates, so any mortality like that will take years and years to rebound from." Among the bats killed by the illness is the tiny Indiana bat, an animal on both the federal and Vermont lists of endangered species. Darling found no dead Indiana bats in Aeolus cave, though small numbers winter there. Most of the victims were northern long-eared bats or little brown bats. Though bats send a shiver down many human spines, they consume millions of insects as they flit through the air on summer nights and play an important role in controlling pests that afflict crops and human inhabitants.
Inside Aeolus cave last week, Darling and cave enthusiast Peter Youngbaer found more dead bats and about 2,000 bats flying around or hanging from walls near the entrance, also unnatural behavior. Usually the hibernating bats stay deep in the cave where temperatures are colder and vary little. "They were flying out of the cave, landing on the snow, landing on us — they shouldn't be doing that in mid-winter," Youngbaer said. Darling said he expects to return as spring approaches, to try to determine how many bats died during the winter. While pathologists try to determine what is killing the bats, three states — New York, Vermont and New Jersey — have asked people to stay out of bat caves this winter. The Northeast Cave Conservancy has closed the nine caves it owns in New York. At least one cave owner as far away as West Virginia has also closed her cave to the public.
Meanwhile, the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental advocacy group, petitioned the United States U.S. government today to take additional steps to protect endangered species of bats. In petitions to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Federal Highway Administration, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Tennessee Valley Authority, the center asks the agencies to: Immediately close caves and mines on federal land where five bat species hibernate in significant numbers. Stop activities within its control that might adversely affect the bats or their summer habitat. Allocate money for research on white-nose syndrome. "Until the extent of deaths is known, all known agency actions that are likely to adversely affect the Gray bat, Indiana bat, Ozark big-eared bat and Virginia big-eared bat must cease and desist," the petition says. Mollie Matteson, of the center's Northeast office in Richmond, said a halt to loggi ng, road-building and other projects in prime bat habitat is necessary until white-nose syndrome is better understood. "We don't know how it is spreading. Bats are very vulnerable because they are colonial in winter — they have very few hibernacula, so this could be a very severe blow to the population as a whole," she said.
Federal officials could not be reached for comment today because of the Presidents Day holiday. In Vermont, Darling, the state wildlife biologist, said a discussion of new steps to protect the bats "will have to happen" soon. "We are beginning to ask ourselves how does this affect our summer research and habitat issues," he said.
RSOE Emergency and Disaster Information Service (EDIS) .. / message -->.. sig -->
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Saturday, February 02, 2008
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BAT TAT Contest Winners!!!
Well everyone, it was a tough vote count! Our first place winner had 12 votes. Then there were 3 of you who had 11 votes - yes, a three way tie!
Clearly I had to add a fourth place prize, and then try to figure out who of the three would take second, who would take third, and who would take fourth.
I went back and determined the dates and time of the votes - the entry who got to 11 votes first got second place, the entry who got to 11 votes second got third place, and the entry who got to 11 votes third got the newly added fourth place. Win, place, show - so to speak.
So here they are.... the BAT TAT WINNERS!!!
FIRST PLACE:
MissPersnickety!
Miss Persnickety wins any 1 Guano Ink item of her choice, as well as a membership to Bat Conservation International donated by Sarah G!
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SECOND PLACE:
Des!
Des wins a bat donated by Theresa from The Occasional Bat!
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THIRD PLACE:
Smokey Joe Monroe!
Smokey Joe Monroe wins a 2008 Bootsana Calendar donated by Debbie Cottrell!
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FOURTH PLACE:
JLA!
JLA wins a Lupita coffee mug from Guano Ink's cafepress site!
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Thank you so much to everyone who entered this contest - never in my wildest imagination did I imagine there were so many beautiful and thoughtful bat tattoos on my friends. Thank you for sharing such a personal thing with everyone. This was great fun and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.
Many thanks to those who donated prizes to the winners, and to those who stopped by to vote. Y'all are the best!!!
Much love and respect.........
~Lupita
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Monday, January 07, 2008
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Show Me Your BAT TAT - New Contest!
Hola my friends!
Our migration back to Austin is a few months away. We are really living it up down here in Mexico this winter... this is the time of year when all the excitement happens. When we all give birth (1 pup a year) in June, it's nothing but work, work, work all summer. But winter is a different story!!
We miss our favorite city, home to our favorite bridge. So we thought, why not have another contest?
We thought we'd ask you to show us your tat! Do you have a tat? Do you have a BAT tat? Then this contest is FOR YOU.
If you do not have a BAT TAT, then you can have a temporary bat design drawn on your skin and use an image of that to enter this contest. Be creative!
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TO ENTER: Take a picture of your Bat Tat, and post it in the comments section of this blog so everyone can see it.
TO VOTE: Vote in the comments section under the photo you like.
DEADLINE: February 1st at midnight will be the end of the time allotted to post your image. The winner will be announced shortly following this.
PRIZES: The first place winner can choose any 1 item from Guano Ink's cafepress page! Guano Ink will have this shipped directly to the winner! In addition, the first place winner will also receive a membership to Bat Conservation International (here is their link) courtesy of Sarah G.!
The second place winner will receive a bat donated by Theresa at The Occasional Bat!
The third place winner will receive a Bootsana 2008 Calendar donated by Deborah Cottrell! To read an interview I did with her click here! To learn more about Bootsana click here! To learn more about the folks who care for Bootsana click here!
A big bat thank you to everyone who is contributing prizes!!!
Let the fun begin........... and good luck!!
(Let's not make a lot of rules here, just be on the honor system and don't post something you found on google images - this is really a chance to get to showcase your own bat tat or temporary skin art designs. In case of a tie, the Guano Ink artists will make the final decision. You can vote 3 times. Enter as many times as you want, and have fun!)
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The contest has now ended at 102 comments--- stand by for the results!
~Lupita
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Sunday, January 06, 2008
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A Texas Bat Tour!
Category: Travel and Places
My friend Cindy took a trip to Bracken Cave last summer to visit the 20 MILLION bats who call it home in the Spring and Summer months. She wrote this article and took photos of the nightly emergence, and was kind enough to share it with me and you!
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A Texas Bat Tour
by Cindy Myers
Many animal-lovers think the world's greatest wildlife spectacles can only be seen by standing in line for a passport and then jetting off to Africa or Australia. They will be pleasantly surprised to learn that one of the most spectacular wildlife viewing opportunities in the world is actually found in Texas, no passport required. Each spring millions of Mexican Free-tailed bats, after wintering in caves scattered across Mexico, rouse themselves from slumber and fly north to Texas. These bats head for the caves of the Texas hill country, and many will return to one cave in particular.
Bracken Cave, located 20 miles north of San Antonio, is the summer home for an estimated 20,000,000 female Mexican Free-tailed bats. Yes, that was 20 MILLION bats, the largest aggregation of wild mammals on the planet. Most of these female bats are pregnant when they return to Bracken in the spring, and each mother gives birth to her single pup in late June or early July. The mothers emerge from the cave at dusk every night to hunt for insects, and then return at dawn to nurse their pups and rest. Researchers have learned that, despite the vast crowds of pink furless pups clinging to the cave ceiling, each mother can single out her own pup's distinctive voice and scent amid the din in the nursery
colony, to find and nurse her own baby.
The pups grow quickly and by late July many of them are already learning to fly, and they are ready to try the nightly hunt with their mothers. This is when the Texas bat-watching season is at its peak. The entrance to Bracken Cave is not that large, basically just a big 60' wide hole in the ground. All the bats in Bracken exit and enter through this one entrance, and the nightly emergence of all these bats is an amazing scene to behold.
Bats are fluttering around just inside the cave entrance, getting ready for the nightly insect hunt.
As a longtime bat fan, I had been reading about the bats of Bracken Cave for almost 20 years and I finally got to witness the emergence in late July of 2007. The cave and 692 acres of surrounding land are owned by a non-profit wildlife conservation group, Bat Conservation International (BCI), and they limit access to the Bracken Reserve in order to protect the bats. There is no charge for "BCI Member Night" outings but you have to be a BCI member, which costs only $45 per year and also offers a subscription to the quarterly Bats magazine, and you must make your Member Night reservation well in advance of your trip. Public access is strictly limited and wildlife watchers journey from all over the world to see the emergence, so I made my July reservation in early February to
ensure my husband and I got a spot.
We received our email confirmation and map from BCI and headed off to Texas for our bat tour. The cave is not widely known or publicized so we were grateful for the map and detailed directions. We were met by our two BCI guides, Fran and Bob, both experienced cavers and bat workers. They waited until our group of bat tourists had assembled before they led us on a caravan out the unmarked road to the cave late that afternoon.
At the cave entrance, we strolled around the viewing area and the other parts of the Reserve, and we spotted several juvenile bats already out practicing their aerobatic skills even though the sun was still up. Our group saw at least three other juvenile bats that were just too exhausted or disoriented to make it back to the cave, and they had taken refuge on low rock walls or boulders, hoping they didn't get eaten by critters before dusk. Poor babies! Our guides had explained earlier that no one should ever handle bats with bare hands, even these wayward
youngsters, so we just let the bats rest quietly until Fran or Bob came over to assist them.
As we approached a small shed near a cave shaft that was formerly used for guano mining/extraction, one of the young bats fluttered to the roof of the shed in exhaustion. He lay there, clumsily trying to right himself on the slippery sheet metal roof, and then just sat there resting for about ten minutes while our guides talked about the Bracken Reserve, and the visitor's center which BCI plans to build on the property. A visitor's center would enable many more people to see the bat colony's emergence and learn about the ecological and economical
importance of these bats, as well as provide security against vandals who might attack the bats while they sleep. A major housing development has been proposed for an adjoining parcel, and security for the cave entrance will soon become a major concern. After resting for a bit and posing so the little girl next to me could borrow my binoculars to get a good look at the young bat, he finally decided he was ready and fluttered away again for more practice.
For years the local biologists were puzzled about the insect diet that could possibly sustain a bat population this large, with this many hungry nursing mothers. Finally, using air balloon collection devices, DNA testing of the insect remains found in bat guano, and Doppler radar technology, the scientists discovered that the bats were heading high up into the sky each night to intercept vast flocks of migratory corn earworm moths. The bats consume other insects and other crop pests also, but in central Texas they concentrate on moths that hatch out in Texas before flying north to our Corn Belt states to feed on corn and cotton crops. Local farmers near the cave can tell when "their" bats have
returned, because insect pests are noticeably fewer and the ranchers can save the time and expense of spraying their fields as often when the bats are back on duty. Scientists estimate that the bats in Bracken Cave gobble up more than 200 tons of insects every summer night.
The colony emergence started when we were still around the back of the property, and we all rushed around to the front of the cave as the bats began streaming out high over our heads. It was absolutely spectacular! There were so many little wingbeats that they created a nice cooling breeze for us as they swirled up and out of the cave. Fran said that in late July there are about 30 million bats flying out because the pups are starting to fly out with their moms, and it takes the entire colony about 5 hours to exit the cave. We calculated that, just while we were there, we saw at least 100,000 bats per minute flying out and over our heads. The bats swirl up and out in a vortex, about three loops before
they're high enough to head off above the treetops, and we were even able to spot several pure white albino bats amidst the thousands of other bats exiting the cave.
The emergence begins..
Pictures can't do the scene justice, but we tried!
Tourists watch in awe as the bats swirl out from the cave.
As we were sitting on the rocks watching, at least three or four clumsy juveniles got bumped out of the skies and some literally fluttered to the ground at our feet. As this happened, we would call out "Downed bat here!" and either Fran or Bob would come let the youngster clamber aboard their gloved hand and they'd help get it aloft again. Someone in the group astutely compared the young bats to teenagers with their first learner's permits, trying to merge onto a crowded multi-lane highway for the first time. There were probably 50 people in our group, and we stayed put until it got so dark we could no longer see the bats still
streaming out of the cave mouth. Then, reluctantly acknowledging that the show was over, we switched on our flashlights and walked back to our cars.
Although I had seen many photos and videos of the Bracken emergence, I was still completely enthralled by the experience. It was the most amazing wildlife spectacle I have ever seen, and I plan to return someday. There are several other great Texas bat-watching sites in addition to Bracken Cave, but the colonies are much smaller in size. The Texas Parks Department offers a brochure of the state's best bat viewing sites, such as the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, the Waugh Drive Bridge in Houston, and numerous other caves and overpasses.
If you would like to become a BCI member or learn more about visiting Bracken Cave & Reserve, contact Bat Conservation International at their website or call (512)327-9721.
And no passport is necessary to take the Texas Bat Tour!
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Saturday, December 29, 2007
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Meet the Dynamic Dr. Deborah Cottrell!
Category: Pets and Animals
Hola, my friends! I am posting this blog from Mexico, where I am spending the winter hanging out (literally) with hundreds of thousands of my closest friends - other Mexican Free-Tailed bats! I thought this would be a good time to introduce you to the fantasticly talented, very busy, and energetic Dr. Deborah Cottrell!
Dr. Deborah Cottrell is a nationally recognized ferret specialist, and has also been very involved in bat rescue and rehabilitation since 1995! She runs West End Animal Hospital in Newberry, Florida. Click here to visit the West End Animal Hospital website, where there is a ton of great information! In March 2006, she presented at the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association annual symposium about the rehabilitation of insectivorous bats, like me! The power point of her presentation is available for download on the West End Animal Hospital website (go to the Doctors page, and click on Medical Articles and Presentations).
Enjoy the interview!
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LUPITA: How did you first get started working with us?
DEBORAH: In 1996, there used to be a hardware store next to the building where my practice was before we built a new hospital. There were about 1000 bats (half Evening Bats, and half Mexican Free-Tails) living under the cedar shingle roof.
LUPITA: I like the Evening Bats, they make good room mates. I also like cedar shingle roofs. Was it a maternity colony?
DEBORAH: Yes, it was a maternity colony. The hardware store employees would come tell us whenever they found a downed pup or adult. I had to learn about bats on the fly, so to speak!
LUPITA: (laughs)
DEBORAH: Well, since we already worked with wildlife, and most of my staff was vaccinated against rabies, we thought that bats would be a good addition to our repertoire.
LUPITA: We are interesting.
DEBORAH: Bats RULE! You are the coolest creatures on the planet!
LUPITA: Thank you!
DEBORAH: If we don't start paying attention to the loss of species, especially ubiquitous ones like bats, we can damage the chain of life so badly it may become irreparable.
LUPITA: All the ubiquitous species appreciate it. You need us! So what happened with the hardware store colony?
DEBORAH: After a couple of years of taking care of the hardware store bats, people started hearing about us, and the University of Florida would send people to us as well.
LUPITA: Oh! Is that how you got involved with the mega bat house at UF?
DEBORAH: Yes. In the summer of 1999 I got a call from some students who said there were a large number of baby bats on the ground near the bat house. I called UF, and they said I could go out and take a look. There were several dozen pups grounded, and unable to crawl back up due to the presence of the aluminum predator wrap around the poles, so we would go out there twice a day and put the pups back up on the poles above the predator wrap.
By the summer of 2003, there were hundreds of down pups - the situation was getting worse, and we figured it was due to the fact that the roosting slats were very slick. The young pups just couldn't hold on. We tried adding ropes for them to climb, but they mostly hid under the ropes and wouldn't go anywhere. We did finally get permission to take down the predator wrap, and that helped tremendously. About half the pups would climb right back up.
LUPITA: Did you work with Steve Barlow on this project? I interviewed him, he is The Mega Bat House Builder! Steve's interview with me
DEBORAH: Yes, in the summer of 2005, with Steve Barlow doing all of the construction work, we added a set of roost extensions to the bottom of the house. These acted as catch planks for the pups, and significantly reduced the numbers of pups falling out.
Every year since 1999, I have assembled a team of volunteers to count downed pups and help them back up into the roost every June. We go out in teams of two people three times a day for the entire month. I'm hoping that UF will build a much needed new bat house so we don't have to continue doing this.
LUPITA: I hope so too. Do you have any other rescue stories you want to share?
DEBORAH: Well, this past summer was the worst ever with a long, hot dry spell. It was a terrible drought, and all the wildlife was suffering. A woman in Ocala, about an hour away, called and said her bats were dying. She had a colony of Evening Bats living in a crawlspace over her front porch, and they would access it through the vent slats. She loves having them. Adult bats were hanging outside, it was so hot, and the pups were falling out, panting and dehydrated. Several were dead, and she was very distressed.
She gathered up eleven pups who were still alive, and brought them to me. One of my staff members and I split them up and nursed them for 3 weeks until they could fly and the horrible heat spell was over. We flew them every night for a week.
LUPITA: In your flight cage?
DEBORAH: Yes. I don't have anyone right now in the flight cage. We are actually getting ready to tear down the whole exterior and re-do it. But it will be really good when it's finished. The cage is 40 feet long so it offers good flight practice.
So when the pups were ready, the woman came back and picked them up and put them back up in the crawlspace. The all climbed right in and, according to the woman, they are all doing fine! She has since put a vent fan in the crawl space for the bats! She cherishes them as "her bats."
LUPITA: So if any people out there want to work with bats, what should they know?
DEBORAH: First of all, don't even think about working with bats, raccoons, foxes, or skunks without being vaccinated against rabies! Be ready to spend a lot of time doing public education. I do a lot of presentations to elementary school kids so they won't grow up being ignorant about bats. Be ready to not have much of a social life or get very much sleep in June, when all the bat pups are born. You'll end up feeding orphans a LOT. I can cheat though, because I can recruit my husband and a number of friends who are rabies vaccinated if I start drowning in pups.
LUPITA: So with all this work, what do you do for fun?
DEBORAH: I am on a paintball team called "Team Ronin", and I enjoy windsurfing and fencing.
I have always been interested in male dominated sports and activities. Guys seem to know where the real fun happens!
And I am a mix DJ. I married a guy who already was a pretty good DJ, and our best friend is a DJ here in Naples, FL who plays in three different clubs. I was immediately fascinated with the whole process of beat matching, the art of mixing well, and understanding the equipment. I have to seamlessly mix one track into another without changing the beat or interrupting the flow, and also make sure the two tracks sound good together. You have to speed up or slow down the new track to match the old one, as well as match the measures and melodies. If you get it wrong, it sounds like shoes in a dryer when the beats go off. DJ's call it "train-wrecking"!
LUPITA: How often do you get to DJ?
DEBORAH: I play sets of one or two hours of house music, and my particular niche is progressive house. I usually open for some other DJ, but I got my first headline gig a couple of months ago!
LUPITA: That looks like a lot of fun. And you went to school in Austin?
DEBORAH: I got my Bachelor's from UT, and my DVM from Texas A&M, so I get a little schizophrenic during the big Thanksgiving football game. There is no doubt that Austin is my favorite place in Texas!
Gainesville, Florida, where I live now, is very similar, really; not as many hills, but lots of trees and water, and the people are pretty laid back and progressive, like Austin. But... there is nothing like the people of Austin, no matter where you go!
LUPITA: I agree. I can't wait to get back there in the spring! Thank you so much for the interview, it was such an honor!
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To visit Deborah, go to her myspace page: Batgirl's myspace!
For veterinary questions, contact Dr. Deborah Cottrell at West End Animal Hospital
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Tuesday, September 04, 2007
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BatFest 2007!
Hello, everyone!
Well, BatFest 2007 has come and gone, and I was so excited to see that my friends at Guano Ink made a booth all about me! I am so flattered...
The day started out with the loading of the Bat-Beetle. Yes, they fit everything into one car!
Here's the Bat-Beetle on the Bridge... Set up is almost complete!
The booth is ready to go! Squeak!
Here are our friends from Bat Conservation International! Hooray!
Sarah from BCI gives me and my fellow bats the thumbs up! Hi, Sarah! You are super-cool!
Here is Sr. Frutabomba's mom! She 's wearing one of my shirts... Hi, Sra. Frutabomba! She really helped make everything possible. We love you, Inesita!
Here are people enjoying the Festival. They came from all over the world!
Here is Sr. Frutabomba's amigo, Esteban. He helped out a lot at the booth! Yay, Esteban!
On day two, there was a big downpour! People got soaked while we were safe in the bridge under their feet...
Here is Sr. Frutabomba with Guano Ink! He is the artist who makes pretty pictures of me! Squeak, squeak!
The rain passed after an hour or so, and people started showing up again to see us. This mother and her daughters were having fun splashing around in the big puddle that stretched across the entire bridge!
People just took the water in stride, and enjoyed themselves.
Lots of people came back after the rain. It was a beautiful evening.
They projected a Bat Signal onto the Hyatt Regency... Very cool!
I was happy to see so many people come out and support bat conservation. Thanks to everyone! I hope you all enjoyed seeing us flutter about beneath the bridge in the bat-lights. Sorry that we didn't all come out this past weekend, but we are just too full of insects right now, so we like to stay inside and chill out!
More about BatFest later...
xoxox
~Lupita
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Friday, June 08, 2007
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Name Lupita's Pup Contest!
Mis amigos y amigas...
I have a special and exciting announcement! I've given birth to a beautiful pup!
I was very busy this Winter in Mexico... but that's another story. When I returned to my bridge in Austin, Texas with all the females in my colony, I was looking forward to the birth of my baby bat very much. Well, we all were! We have one pup every year, so the population of our colony doubles in a very short amount of time!
Some of the males in our large colony show up later in the summer after the excitement is over, and then in the Fall we all go down to Mexico together. We had quite a time last year.. but like I said, that's another story!
My pup is perfect. But perhaps I am biased! They grow up so fast, flying after about 5 weeks!
There are so many babies born in the same couple of weeks every summer, that we move them into a common nursery area. Even though there are tens of thousands of pups tucked safely into our bridge crevice underneath Congress Avenue in Austin, when we return from our insect hunting we can always find our own pups pretty quickly.
Here's a picture of me with all the hungry pups in our bridge crevice nursery.
Did you know that Mexican Free-Tailed bats are born feet first? Click on the link below to see a bat birth filmed by Iaon Cottrell! (Thank you for permission to use this video, Debbie and Iaon - you are truly friends to bats everywhere).
click here to see a bat birth!
Perhaps you can help me name my pup! Send me a message with your entry of a name and if you think my pup is a boy or a girl, and the winner will get their choice of 1 item from Guano Ink's cafe press page, which features me: Lupita, The Congress Avenue Bridge Bat! (www.cafepress.com/guanoink) The winner can choose!
The "Name Lupita's Pup Contest" deadline is June 21st at midnight!
Gotta run... er... fly.... my baby is hungry! I have to make several trips back to the nursery in the bridge to feed my pup during my nightly hunt. Night is falling fast and the insect feast awaits!
~Lupita
UPDATE: The contest winner was Fatality Jane with the name DULCE! Fatality Jane chose the Day of the Dead LUPITA tote from our Guano Ink merchandise! Congratulations Fatality Jane!
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Saturday, April 21, 2007
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Meet Corky: Founder of NorCal Bats!
Meet Corky, founder of NorCal Bats! Corky has graciously accepted my invitation to be interviewed about her work with bats!
Corky is the founder of Northern California Bats, an organization that is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of bats in the Northern California area. She is committed to educating the public about the importance of bats and dispelling fears and myths that may lead to the destruction of bat roosts and colonies. She took time out of her busy schedule to talk to me about her work and her passion for bats!
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LUPITA: Hi Corky! Thank you for taking the time to speak with me.
CORKY: You're welcome, Lupita!
LUPITA: How did you become interested in us? By us, I mean bats..
CORKY: I've always wanted to fly. Birds are wonderful, but flying mammals? How cool is that?
LUPITA: I have to admit... it IS pretty cool to be a flying mammal!
CORKY: I have always appreciated the underdog, and bats get such bad publicity. I was inspired to work closely with bats after watching a presentation about these fascinating animals that included showing various species of live bats. I have a background in Environmental Education, and have IWRC training. (IWRC is the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council. For more information on IWRC click here: http://www.iwrc-online.org/ )
LUPITA: When did you start the Northern California Bats organization?
CORKY: I started it in the Fall of 2006. After a couple years of volunteering under another agency, and being a little limited on how much education and outreach I could do, I decided to start my own organization. Education is vital. I can help quite a few bats, one by one, with rehabilitation... but I can help so many more by talking with the public.
LUPITA: Do you get research grants or state funding for your group?
CORKY: Oh no, we are completely funded out of pocket and by donations only.
LUPITA: What are some of your goals in teaching bat education?
CORKY: Dispelling myths and helping humans understand what a vital role bats play in the environment. I also hope that people can see you are clean, shy animals, not ugly, dirty or full of disease.
LUPITA: Can you tell me more about your bat organization?
CORKY: I am the founder, and we are a small but growing group. I have connected with a local Wildlife Rehabilitation group that was open to bats, but had no experience with them. My goal this Spring is to train a few of their members so that together we can reach a larger area.
LUPITA: Would you share some bat rescue stories?
CORKY: Sure. Last Summer a terrible number of baby bats were in need, and there just weren't enough local bat rehabilitators to help. It was so hot here in the Sacramento area, even at night. Poor little 2-week old Mexican Free-tailed babies (like you, Lupita), were too hot in their roosts. Especially those who roost under freeways and under Spanish tile roofs. They came out in large groups to cool off, and hung precariously.
Someone would flex a wing or wiggle for a better place, and suddenly a whole group would fall. There must have been about 500 babies who fell and were in trouble. We worked very hard to return them to their moms. You can see we marked some of the babies with a blue mark before we returned them. That way we were able to identify the babies who fell a second time. If that happened, we took those bats to bat rehab volunteers. Even the Fire Department helped! This was in downtown Sacramento.
Some were weak or dehydrated. Those were fed formula and raised by caring and trained volunteers. There were so many babies in need; we even sent some of them to Southern California bat rehabbers. This is a picture of bats being fed baby bat formula from sponge applicators.
At 2 weeks of age, they couldn't fly yet, but were already too big for mom to pick up.
LUPITA: Yes, we fly at about 6 weeks old.
CORKY: Geez, you guys grow fast!
LUPITA: Yes, we do!
CORKY: For a while, the babies from Sacramento lived in a "waterbator" - like an incubator. Eventually they grew enough fur to regulate their own heat and we moved them to a reptarium. A reptarium works well because of the mesh inside that they can hang on to. I lifted the towel over the reptarium to take this picture of the babies.
Finally they grew strong enough to go to the flight cage, develop wing strength, and learn from older bats to prepare for the wilds. Actually, "the wilds" in this case was their return to their roost in Downtown Sacramento.
One of my favorite stories is a bat rescue from our local university, the University of California at Davis. On a Monday morning, the staff of data processing arrived at work to find a small bat in the newt aquarium! It was a Yuma Myotis, a very small bat, and he was laying in the aeration devise putting his wing in the water and then licking off the moisture.
This is a picture of a Yuma Myotis!
Poor little fellow was very dehydrated after being locked inside the building - probably when the custodian left Friday night. Summers here are very dry and hot. Luckily, one of the women knew what to do. She made a phone call to have the bat rescued, but when she returned to the aquarium, the bat had fallen into the water.
LUPITA: Oh no!
CORKY: She reviewed her options, knowing that touching it with her bare skin would be a death sentence for the bat. Our Health Department requires rabies testing on bats that have skin contact with humans. She quickly went to the kitchen, found some salad tongs, and lifted the bat from the water. After a few days of food and fluid with a bat rehabber, he was good to go!
LUPITA: What is your favorite thing about working with bats?
CORKY: One of my favorite parts about working with bats is helping humans understand how special you are. Our local colony sizes are much smaller than Texas, but I have the pleasure of working with one of the largest colonies in California. There is a maternal colony of about a quarter million Mexican Free-tailed bats..
LUPITA: Like me!
CORKY: Yes, like you! They live under Highway 80 as it passes over the Yolo Wildlife Area. Here are some Mexican Free-tailed bats in a crevice under the highway.
Several times during the Summer I have the pleasure of giving a presentation at the wildlife area, and then escorting the people out to watch the bats fly! The schedule is on our website at http://norcalbats.org/calendar.shtml
They are so impressed by the large ribbon of bats that turn into clouds and then disappear in the distance as they go to hunt insects around our cities and farm fields.
LUPITA: What is the one thing about us that you wished everyone in the world knew?
CORKY: I wish people understood how gentle and shy you are. I also wish humans understood how vulnerable bats are to the actions of humans, and how small activities on our part cause great declines in your populations.
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To learn more about the Northern California Bats organization or make a donation to help them continue their important work, click here: http://www.norcalbats.org/
Or, to visit Corky on myspace, click here: http://www.myspace.com/norcal_bats (She has some really great pictures of bats in her photo album, and they are well worth checking out!)
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