Файл:Bat habitat study continues in Oregon high desert (14897449135).jpg

Does a lactating bat prefer warm rocks or old juniper trees for night roosting? How about a male? These are the types of questions a BLM team of investigators is trying to answer in a three-year research study on bat habitat in the high desert of Central Oregon.

The team, led by BLM wildlife habitat biologist Christopher “Digger” Anthony, just finished field work last month for summer number two at Frederick Butte, in Brothers, Oregon.

The research required three different teams: One team captured and attached the small transmitters to the Western Long-eared Myotis bats; another team hiked to nearby high points with telemetry equipment to track movements on the range; and the final and only day shift team processed the data.

“It was a little challenging trying to triangulate a flying object in the middle of the night,” said Anthony of one lesson his team learned.

“Well,” he admitted later, “I don’t know if it matters in the light or dark.”

After next year’s final field analysis, Anthony said he hopes his study can fill in some of the knowledge gaps regarding day roosts and habitat selection for bats in juniper woodland environments.

Previous Northwest Passage story about bats: www.blm.gov/or/nwpassage/articles/NWP_14_Going_Batty.php

And more info on the BLM Oregon Prineville District: www.blm.gov/or/districts/prineville/index.php