A summer of netting in West Virginia

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Curtis Hart
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Location: Hillsdale County, Michigan

A summer of netting in West Virginia

Post by Curtis Hart »

This summer I was got a job doing Indiana Bat compliance for coal mines in West Virginia. The job basically involved netting sites to see if we caught an Indiana Bat, and then tracking it to its roost tree and gathering foraging data. This was by far my favorite job I've ever had. You basically drive a small truck up a rough, mountain road, and then sit in the woods for 5 hours every night processing bats. On my first night, the first bat I took pictures of was a Northern Myotis, Myotis septentrionalis.
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Here's one from later in the season.
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Tricolor Bat, Perimyotis subflavus.
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Eastern Small-footed Bat, Myotis leibii. I only saw the orange fungus on the ears on this species of bat.
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Here's the one Silver-haired Bat that our crew caught for the entire season Lasionycteris noctivagans.
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I caught several Eastern Red Bats through out the season. They are probably the easiest bat to photograph that we caught. Lasiurus borealis.
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My favorite species of bat for the season was probably the Hoary Bat, Lasiurus cinereus.
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By far the meanest bats I caught were Big Browns, Eptesicus fuscus. These guys will bite any chance they get and are great at finding the weak spot in your gloves.
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Here's on in the net.
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I caught a few Little Brown Myotis, Myotis lucifugus.
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I caught 1 Indiana Myotis this summer, Myotis sodalis.
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Jay and Dave looking for the bat I caught the next day.
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Being out at night, we saw several other interesting critters throughout the summer.

Black Bear
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I found this dead Hairy-tailed Mole. This would have been a lifer alive.
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Crotalus horridus
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Desmognathus fuscus
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Eurycea longicauda
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Pantherophis obsoletus
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Bufo americana
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Terrapene carolina carolina
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Hyla chrysoscelis
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Pseudacris brachyphona
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Pseudacris crucifer
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I caught a couple Belted Kingfishers, they are easy to get out.
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We netted over water for a week, and I took a few fish pictures, Thanks J Butler for the IDs.

Northern Hogsucker, Hypentilium nigricans.
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Greenside Darter, Etheostoma blennioides.
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I don't know this one, but it was my favorite to watch.
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Crayfish of some sort.
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Sun's coming up. Time to go to bed.
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Tamara D. McConnell
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Re: A summer of netting in West Virginia

Post by Tamara D. McConnell »

Looks like a wonderful summer. Love the bats. Did you have to get inoculated for rabies before beginning this job?
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Curtis Hart
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Location: Hillsdale County, Michigan

Re: A summer of netting in West Virginia

Post by Curtis Hart »

I did get a rabies vaccine. A few of the techs did not, but as my job required handling, I needed to. It was quite expensive, but now I don't have to worry about getting bit by things for a couple years.



Curtis
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mywan
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Re: A summer of netting in West Virginia

Post by mywan »

When I was young, shortly after taking an interest in snakes, I was intensely curious about bats. Never could find any good information at that time though. :(

The unidentified fish looks like Cyprinella spiloptera (Spotfin Shiner).
http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/spatialdatal ... cypspi.pdf

Not the best pic but I think I see the black spot on the dorsal fin. The fin arrangement and general build looks to fit also.
Here is a list of Michigan fish:
http://www.michigandnr.com/publications ... fishes.pdf
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mrichardson
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Re: A summer of netting in West Virginia

Post by mrichardson »

Love the pics Curtis, sounds like a great way to spend the summer.
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Andy Avram
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Re: A summer of netting in West Virginia

Post by Andy Avram »

Curtis,

Glad to see the pictures of your bat work. What a great way to spend the summer. I would have loved to see the Silver-haired and Indiana Bats!

Your last fish is a Spotfin Shiner. An insanely common, but insanely awesome fish, especially for an aquarium.

Andy
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Josh Holbrook
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Re: A summer of netting in West Virginia

Post by Josh Holbrook »

Looks like a productive summer - full of good book research ;-)
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gbin
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Re: A summer of netting in West Virginia

Post by gbin »

Curtis Hart wrote:I did get a rabies vaccine. A few of the techs did not, but as my job required handling, I needed to. It was quite expensive, but now I don't have to worry about getting bit by things for a couple years.
Just to make sure that you know this, Curtis: The vaccine is a great idea for folks who are at risk of being bitten by a potentially rabid animal (I've done a lot of carnivore work in the field and in zoos in the past and have been vaccinated because of it), but if such a bite occurs you still need to go through treatment. The vaccine doesn't replace treatment but rather just offers a good bit of insurance that treatment will have a happy ending - and you really want a happy ending, here! ;) And if you're still doing that kind of work more than a couple of years, you can probably just have your blood titer checked to make sure you're still protected rather than getting immunized all over again.

Gerry
Coluber Constrictor
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Re: A summer of netting in West Virginia

Post by Coluber Constrictor »

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Curtis Hart
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Re: A summer of netting in West Virginia

Post by Curtis Hart »

Thanks for the replies everyone.

mywan and Andy - Thanks for the fish ID. For some reason, using a field guide on small fish is pretty tough for me.

Josh - I learned a lot, now to just get writing.

Gerry - Yeah, I know you should seek treatment if bitten by an animal that is probably infected with rabies. I have heard of instance where someone was bitten by a rabid bat and did nothing about it. They just had an insanely high titter count the next time they were checked. Not worth the risk though.

Coluber Constrictor - Rabies is not as common in bats as people believe. The problem is, it is high in the bats people encounter, sick or injured bats. I was bitten regularly while handling netted bats, and I am not worried about it. There are also cases of rabies being airborne, mainly in large roost caves that are very humid. I read a paper on it, but don't have the reference.
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Jason B
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Re: A summer of netting in West Virginia

Post by Jason B »

Excellent post Curtis. I'm jealous of the Hoary and the Silver-haired bats. We picked them up acoustically this summer but didn't manage to net any.

I saw the orange clusters on several M. leibii too. It's a fungus? One of my coworkers seemed to think it was mites or mite eggs.

-Jb

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Curtis Hart
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Re: A summer of netting in West Virginia

Post by Curtis Hart »

I just figured it's a fungus. I never looked that close. Your picture certainly looks more like mites or eggs. What were you doing with bats this summer?




Curtis
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Jason B
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Re: A summer of netting in West Virginia

Post by Jason B »

Same as you it sounds like; sodalis surveys for resource extraction permits.
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