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Chiroptera Cabin Company
Cabins and Condos for Chiroptera Cuties

Survey Team 1

This evening’s bat survey was conducted at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne Vermont .  Teams of willing volunteers gather before sunset with the researchers from the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department.  The researchers explain to the group what they are hoping to accomplish and what will take place during the evening’s survey.  The volunteers assisted the researchers with net placement and preparation of equipment for the rest of the evening.

Four (4) mist nets and one (1) harp net were set up across logging roads in a forested area of the Farm.  This area was selected because of its location between a large known colony of bats and a large source of fresh water. 

A mist net is made of very fine netting, almost like a hair net.  While foraging, that bats fly into the net and get tangled.  Don’t worry the mist net is quite flexible so the bats are not injured when they fly into it.  Researchers carefully untangle the bats, collect some data, and then release them back into the wild.

A harp net looks just like it sounds, like a giant harp.  It consists of two parallel rows of monofilament line that are separated by a few inches.  The bats ‘see’ the first row of lines with their echolocation but don’t see the second row of lines.  They turn to fly between the first set of lines and run into the second set of lines.  They gently fall into a cloth basin where researchers can pick them out.  Data can then be collected on the bats and they are released back into the wild.

During the bat survey at Shelburne Farms about 12 bats were caught, studied, banded, and released.

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