Help us to get Josh to Galapagos to continue his work with the little red bat & the hoary bat.

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.