Monitoring Wildlife at Night and Cave Critters

27 Jul Monitoring Wildlife at Night and Cave Critters

There are so many things that I like about this internship that I can go on and on about. My two favorite parts are mist netting bats and doing any project that involves going inside the cave. I have learned a plethora of skills during mist netting, such as how to handle bats properly, how to identify them to the species level (so cool!), how to determine age and reproductive status; how temperature, humidity, and moon phases can affect bat count, how to safely remove them from the nets, and so many other things. Furthermore, I am in charge of doing critter surveys of the cave every two weeks and uploading the data. As the temperature gets hotter, we are able to see more and more of the endemic harvestmen (Taracus silvestrii)! I also enjoy learning on how to monitor temperature, CO2 levels, airflow and pressure, and how these factors can have an effect on the cave.

Resource Management team setting up mist nets for bat survey

Doing critter survey of the cave!