Oh What a Night

A few nights ago Liz decided that she really did want to do some mist netting across a body of water, so we set up 2 nets across the San Saba river and 2 more nets on the river bank. We were all wearing knee-high, waterproof rubber boots, but the river was swollen from a recent rain and despite my efforts water poured into my boots, leaving my feet soaked. The poles we have to raise for the triple high mist nets are 30 feet tall metal tubes that wiggle back and forth due to their height and slender build. To secure them, I have to pound a three foot metal stake into the ground with a three foot metal "pounder" that weighs about 15 pounds and then raise the thirty foot pole two feet and place it over the stake. This is difficult enough on dry land; imagine doing it in a river of swiftly flowing water. The bottom of the river was so rocky that it was impossible to pound the stake in more than a few inches, so we piled rocks around the base of the pole to provide support.
The sun was sinking by the time all the nets were raised, but enough light remained to illuminate the ominous thunder clouds rolling towards us. Nonetheless, Liz decided to press on, hoping that the storm would miraculously miss us. As the sun faded further, it was necessary to turn on the head lamps for light. Unfortunately, being on a river means that there are a plethora of insects and when I turned my light on, they swarmed me. I have never in my life encountered so many bugs. I literally could not breathe because I would choke on them. They flew up my nose, into my ears, into my hair, down my shirt, into my eyes, and crawled up my pants. It was the most horrifying and disgusting thing I have experienced, but I forced myself to maintain my composure and continue on with the research.
The nets were set up in very strategic positions and we immediately began to catch multiple bats. At one point I was extracting a bat from the net strung across the river, when I was overcome with bugs and fell into a fit of coughing that lasted about 5 minutes. Liz had to come over and help me finish…for some reason the bugs seemed to enjoy feasting on me more than her.
Around 11pm the storm seemed as though it was about to hit in earnest, so we frantically began taking the nets down in the pitch dark. Lightening lit up the sky and thunder boomed, not in the distance, but right over head. It was impossible to seem the bottom of the murky river water in the dark and I was constantly slipping on rocks and countless times I almost fell into the river. I don’t know exactly how we managed, but we did get all of the nets down and drove back to the house before the rain came. In the end it was nice because we finished very very early (we usually work until 6:30-7am) and I was able to get a lot of sleep.
This weekend we are going to a few caves to census the bats as they emerge. I may not be able to write for a while, but I am hoping to update the roaming on my phone, so perhaps I will be able to make a few phone calls! Lots and lots of love 