The past few days have been very busy and eventful. Friday evening Kristen, the other field assistant who is my age, arrived and we went to Bessent Field to mistnet. It's an organic orchard that is situated next to a horse farm! It would have been gorgeous, but we arrived late and had to set up all the nets in the dark and were not able to enjoy the scenery. We had a fairly slow night and only caught a few bats, but the exciting part came in the morning when we had to pack everything up. Throughout the night there had been heat lightening and thunder off in the distance, which is not unusual in Texas. However, in the morning storm clouds rolled in and rain began pouring down. Liz's dog, Coqueta, was running around barking while Liz, Dan, Veronica, Kristen, and I were frantically scrambling to get all of the supplies. Fortunately, we were able to safely pack everything up and get home somewhat quickly, but we were all soaked and Coqueta had decided it was a good idea to role in a large pile of horse manure so the ride home was a bit stinky.

Saturday was very fun. We used a thermal imaging camera to watch the bats imerge from the bat house! In addition, we got the night off and were able to sleep :-) The thermal imaging equipment is something the Kunz lab has been working on developing for several years and the equipment is very very expensive (probably around the value of our house) so I was terrified of breaking something. It's a really neat setup: we have the camera focused on the bat house and then a computer that shows the image and later analyzing the data to determine the number of bats that leave the roost. We are really interested in learning how many bats live in the roost to determine the composition of the colony and gain insight into the behavior in bats.

Last night was the most miserable night so far, but I also had the most beautiful experience. We mistnetted in a commerical orchard across the river. Commerical orchards till the ground and use pesticides unlike organic orchards that allow the trees to naturally grow with limited human intervention. The orchard was gorgeous and there were fewer insects due to the use of chemicals, but it was freezing. I have never been so cold in my entire life. We stayed out all night which was frustrating because bats do not enjoy cold weather so we were guaranteed not to catch anything for most of the night. We were able to catch a few bats before 11 when it was still fairly warm. The first bat we captured was a perimyotis subflavus (the tri-colored bat), which we have not caught yet this year. As is procedure, we place him in a bat bag for a couple hours in the hopes that he would poop and allow us to collect a fecal sample that will be analyzed in lab for moth DNA. After this time is up we release the bats back into the wild. When we tried to release this little guy he flew up in the air and then turned back and landed on Kristen's leg. Since she is waiting for the results of her rabies shots she can't handle the bat, so I picked him. Liz decided he was cold and asked me to try and warm him up and then release him in a few minutes later. I went to sit with him in the car and it was one of the most magical experiences I have ever had. It was so special to be holding a little bat in my hand and watch him lay calmly in my hand flattening himself out to soak up my body heat. He didn't try to bite and he even fell asleep for a few minutes as I was holding him! After this experience I am hooked, bats are so adorable!!

I will write more later tonight and describe more of the scenery and the fun stuff I have been able to do. Right now I need to collect some more insect samples, repair a couples nets, and possibly head to town for a bit. We have tonight off because we are giving a presentation at a local elementary school tomorrow morning. Yay for sleep!

Love,
Lauren