D for Dead :-(

Unfortunately, the unnamed 'D' female died tonight. I wasn't there; I was off following Carter but Kerry radioed to tell me. Kerry unsuccessfully tried to release the female. Bats have a very high metabolism when they are active but they go into topor (mini hibernation) during the day to conserve energy. Kerry thinks that the bat used up too much of its energy today when it got disturbed by the loggers. It was roosting in a dead tree that was felled, so I'd imagine that's pretty stressful. Kerry offered it moths but it wasn't interested, so she drove to Hamilton (over an hour away) to get mealworms from another grad student who is studying bats. Kerry is staying the night in Hamilton.

Carter has now used two different day roosts right by the road where we caught him. I was all prepared to stake out his roosts tonight to find out when we is coming back for the night. I had my sleeping bag and pillow in the back of Kerry's station wagon. But, with Kerry in Hamilton I'm not comfortable spending the night in the forest alone, so I came back when I lost his signal and was falling asleep.

I think we still need a name for this bat, since Kerry similarly came upon'Alfred' after a logging incident. He died shortly thereafter, but he started the alphabetical theme. It's a real bummer this one died because females usually roost in groups instead of alone like males. A second bat was found with this female, but it disappeared before we arrived at the site.

Carrie