Townsend Bat Colony

I stumbled upon this Townsend Bat colony purely by accident while cave hunting.  I was as surprised to see them as they were to see me!  I stayed less than two minutes, not wanting to upset them further.  I took this quick video so you all can enjoy seeing them in their natural environment.

My First Bat Rehabilitation Patient

Got a call from Kathy today, said she was sending a bat my way! I scrambled to gather supplies and drove out to meet the couple who called in to Bat Crew.  They had found him last night, hardly moving on a cold garage floor. They took him in and kept him warm. By the time I picked him up, he was more feisty. He took a small amount of water, and then settled in for a long nap.  I will try to squeeze some worms in his mouth tomorrow.

Defiance Cave Preserve: Drapery Den is Trashed

Last month, we headed to Drapery Den with Rob McFarland, Ken Headrick, Mike Frazier. We were armed with garbage bags and gloves, but were unprepared for what we found.  We had expected to clean up trash that one person left behind. Instead, thigh high mountains of trash greeted us.  Only multiple probably mentally ill people over a long period of time could have accumulated so much refuse. Old cans, bottles, wrappers, clothing, drug containers, broken furniture, camping equipment, magazines and more.  It will take a small army to clean out this cave and make it habitable for bats again.  We loaded and carried many bags to the surface of the cave, but were only able to carry a fraction down the mountain.  We anticipate spending many weekends starting next spring on this project.

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Double Eagle Dig

Joined John McLean, Doug Medville, Todd Burke, Hunter, Paul Fowler, Mike Frazier and others for continued work on the Double Eagle Dig. At one point, we could hear Donald Davis tapping his hammer in a nearby passage, so a connection is imminent!

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via GIPHY

Bat Rehabilitation: My First Time Handling a Bat