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Time again to do the annual Oklahoma Bat Count. This year we have a few other things to do other than count noses... we need to be on the lookout for WNS (White Nose Syndrome) on our hibernating bats. We'll be taking a lot more pictures than usual on the bat count for scientists to look at the images to see if they can see any signs of the disease. Along with tempertures along the way, we'll also record humidity levels, and take soil samples. We start at the resurgance (South Entrance) and go through to lovers crown (what we call Pip Hall) then come out and go to Train Tunnel entrance (where we usually see long ear bats), then finally to one of the start entrances of the cave system Glade and Homestead Entrance to finish the count.
Members of Central Oklahoma Grotto (COG) met on a county intersection early on Feb. 19, 2011 to do our yearly population count.
As far as we could see, we did not see any evidence of WNS on the bats...the resurgance (South entrance) was EXTREAMLY wet and humid...about 88% and moisture was everywhere... probably from the snow melt from the past 2 weeks of snow. A lot of bats were wet or were sparkling with water droplets and the walls glowed with sparkles from the water.
Train Tunnel we did find a few Long Ears so it made the extra trip worth it.
Glade did not have the giant mats we've seen in the past in this area... 2nd year in a row...though it was beautiful outside, the water was frozen in the first 150 feet of cave....the bats resting nice and cozy in their cold surroundings.
Click on any photo to see an enlarged version.
