Bat cave? Around here, it's more likely to be a cypress tree

[Wayne Harrison]

By TAJUANA CHESHIER
tcheshier@jacksonsun.com
Jackson Sun

Surrounded by frogs, cottonmouths and bugs, Freed-Hardeman University biology instructor Brian Carver checks his nets for bats every 20 minutes and applies insect repellent about every hour.

His nighttime ritual intersects with those of the very vocal tree, bull and leopard frogs, along with the other animals of the swampy area around Pinson Mounds State Park.

"It's pretty interesting out there at night," Carver said of the area in south Madison County. "It's a lot louder than someone would think."

For four weeks Carver and junior biology major Nolan Ashley have spent their nights this way - six or seven hours in murky, muddy water waiting to catch southeastern Myotis and Rafinesque's big-eared bats. The bats are measured and equipped with radio transmitters. Both species are considered "species of special concern" by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Research has shown the bats prefer swamp areas and large trees, which have been disappearing because of agricultural development, Carver said.

"We don't have a lot of concrete numbers on the bat populations because people haven't been studying them for long," he said. "But we can quantify that there's been a lot of habitat loss."


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[Squirrel Girl]

It wasn't apparent in the story, nor on the front page of the website.

It's from Tennessee

[Mike Cato]

Thannnnnk you.