Donations over $50 get to name a bat (in good taste), Check out a photo of one of the t-shirt designs in the gallery. If you wish learn more about how to win this t-shirt please email info@galapagos.org.nz.
Josh's latest update: -
Success! We caught three bats in one night! Introducing “Tim the Enchanter” and his two friends (I have to look up the next few names, but the internet is slow at the moment). The two red bats were caught in mist nets we used as a giant hand net. The grey bat was caught in a fixed mist net we were in the process of setting up! So I think we are getting the hang of this!
We needed some more hand nets to help catch bats. After running around and sourcing some fishing nets and plastic pipe for the rim we made of first prototypes. Unfortunately, they were a bit heavy and the bats are very fast making it hard to catch them. Johannes, one of the rangers working on the project, suggested we try making some out of mosquito nets. So here is the process.
First, cut out the size you want and put a layer of duct tape along the top. This is to stop the wire wearing through the net. Then fold this layer of duct tape over on itself sticky side facing out. This forms a tube to run the wire through. Fix this in place with another strip of duct tape and a final strip on the other side is added seal the sticky side. Thread the net around the wire loop and then roll the edges of the bag together and sew shut. The design worked nicely so now we are getting a seamstress to make one out of cloth instead of duct tape. This should be a bit stronger and longer lasting. Final costs should be less than $20 per net and I'm looking forward to trying them out in the field.
Introducing “Katca” the first grey bat we have caught. She looks gorgeous! She was flying around Bella Vista chasing moths. The bats here have a weird behaviour, if you toss a bag into the air the bats dive down and chase it! The local kids noticed this when they were playing volleyball in the park. This allowed one of the Park Rangers to catch the bat by hand. We hope to use this trick to catch more in the future! After we finished processing the bat it hung out on some telephone lines for a while.
