Hi everyone,

So I have been in Texas one day and I have learned so much already. I apologize if I have to cut the post short, things are very fast paced here. Liz (the graduate student) picked me up from the airport and we made some stops at Target and and Petsmart. I found that pretty funny. I met the two other assistants who are here currently, Dan and Veronica. Dan has been here for a month and will stay for one more. Veronica arrived with me yesterday and is only staying the week.

We immediately headed out to the field last night and began research! It was exhausting, but very rewarding. We stayed close to the field house and raised two triple high mist-nets in the organic orchard in the hopes of catching some bats. The night was very windy early on so we didn't catch any bats until later in the night. The first bat was a Myotis velifer...a very feisty one too. It was a pregnant female and she was not at all happy about being stuck in a net. Throughout the night we caught 5 more and I released two, took wing samples from a couple, released a few, chased some with a bat recorded to record bat calls, fed a couple, collected some nice guano samples, and learned how to identify a few different species. In the end I had seen an evening bat, a cave myotis, and a brazilian free-tailed bat.

Throughout the night we checked the mist-nets every 15 minutes for bats. Each time we found one we put it in a small cloth "bat bag" and held onto it for 2 hours to give it time to poop. Then we collected the poop samples, which will later be analyzed by Veronica in the lab to check for moth DNA. This way we will know whether or not the bats are eating the insects and helping to reduce the pest damage on the pecan crops.

We went out around 9pm and packed up at 6:30 am, it was a very long night. Normally we would head out around 7/7:30 to set up the nets and then begin checking them around 8:45pm when the sun sets. When we get back in the morning we have a quick breakfast, take a shower and sleep to 2/3 pm and then take care of any odds and ends that need to be finished. I have been delegated the exciting task of repairing the damaged mist-nets. The bats often bite through the nets and leave gaping holes that need to be repaired.

There are a ton of insects and I am really roughing it out here. I have never had an experience like this before. It is wonderful! I will definitely be over my fear of bugs when I get home :-)

I have to head over the to John and Jimma's (the landowner's) house for dinner. Hopefully I will be able to write again soon. I am sorry for any misspelling, I am so exhausted it is hard to think straight. I have left out a lot of details because so much has happened, but let me know if you are interested in anything particular and I will write more about it :-)

Love,
Lauren