Swoop Zone SLO-MO
Swoop Zone SLO-MO
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Jam Session
Are these pups playing tag or is this a jam session? Mexican free-tailed bats have been documented to jam each other’s echolocation signals when competition for food gets intense (see Aaron Corcoran’s research at http://sonarjamming.com) . Do eastern red bats do the same in similarly competitive situations? Here in the flight cage, there are not enough moths for all the 30 plus flying rehab bats. Is this pup following his sibling to practice jamming his call and stealing the moth? Or just playing?
Cow Pea Patrol
Patrolling the cow peas. Good little helper!
Black Light Action
Action under the black light last night. Moths attracted by the garden, moth pheromones, night-blooming plants, and the water all tend to congregate around the blacklight.
Our juvenile bats fly in wide loops tangent to the light and hope they time it right so they get the chance to practice their hunting skills.
Red Skypuppy
This eastern red girl is from the family brought in by Evan Alcantara from Salem Hill Drive in Austin.
They have thrived here at the Refuge given a second chance and we’re thrilled that they’ll be back out in the wild as soon as the weather breaks.
Here she’s performing a flip-turn at the palm fronds as she shreds the flight cage.
Saturday Night Flights
Great emergence at Congress Avenue Bridge tonight. Great fun talking to the tourists from all over the world. Especially the wonderful family from New Jersey whose daughter is going for her Girl Scout Silver Award by creating this website https://sites.google.com/site/maketheworldabattierplace/ Check it out!
They are multi-national, with family from Italy, Spain, and Venezuela and we had great fun surfing Google Earth together. Thanks y’all!
Mount Roraima, Venezuela!
Stable cooler temps = better flights at CAB
Stable, cooler temperatures after the storms led to the first great emergence in over a week, last night at Congress Avenue Bridge.
Here we see about 1-1/2 million Mexican free-tailed bats on Doppler radar as they head out to the agricultural fields to forage for crop pests.
Winds from the NE at emergence sent them to the SSE about 18 miles past Mustang Ridge along Cedar Creek.
We frequently see them head on a broad reach to the wind, taking advantage of the free ride while knowing the winds normally die down by the time they want to return.
Red bat family – yawning pup & squirrel!
Eastern red family still hanging together even though only one is still nursing. They love each other’s company and only split up for a little while when the heat of the afternoon is just too much. Watch for the yawning pup and top and the squirrel on the tree limb! The squirrels have been loving the misters and frequently come to lick condensation of the netting!
Who says they’d burst into flames?
Another great emergence at Congress Avenue Bridge! Half the bats you see are pups that have only been flying for a week or two. Thanks to all who came by to visit at our info table!
Who says if sunlight hits them they burst into flames? Apparently the just glow!
Nice Catch!
This eastern red pup is one of the four pups that Laurie rescued. He was found with his mum on the ground near their house. They would all have died without her taking time from her busy day to care for this family in need. Thanks so much Laurie!
Here one of the boys catches a moth in his tail membrane. They are growing up and going from little fluff balls to bad-ass bug killing predators.
