16
Wednesday,December23,2015The Nugget Newspaper,Sisters,Oregon
Tales from a
Sisters
Naturalist
by Jim Anderson
The Nugget
goes ‘batty’
At this point of my 87
years living on this beauti-
fuloldEarthI’msousedto
thephoneringingat11p.m.,
nothing surprises me any-
more.Icanrememberwhen
it rang at quarter to mid-
night when my son Caleb
was beginning to show his
prowess and intense sense
ofadventureduringhisearly
driving years. I picked it
upandasked,“Isthereany
blood?”
“No blood, dad,” Caleb
responded, “but the front-
end of the Volvo doesn’t
looktoogood.”
So,lastweekwhenitrang
atabout11p.m.Ifeltpretty
good, Caleb’s out of the
Army,livingoverinSalem
with his three young chil-
drenandsweetwife,Kendra,
andhisgreatenergyisspent
working on remodeling his
house.
Suepickedupthephone
thistime,andaftershesaid
the usual hello, the caller
identified himself, “This is
Pete, and I found a bat in
Jim’sofficebathroomsink,
whatshouldIdo…?”
Peteistheproofreaderat
The Nugget,andtheJimhe
wasreferringtoistheeditor,
JimCornelius.Thebatwas
better identified when Pete
added, “It looks like a big
brownbat.”
I suggested he find a
cardboardboxandplacethe
batinsideandthenI’dcome
innextmorning and take a
gander.Ifitwasn’tsickand
Icouldn’tidentifythefurry
littleguest,I’dtakeittomy
dear pal in Bend, wildlife
biologist Tom Rodhouse,
withwhomI’vecarriedout
a great many bat-oriented
projects.
Thenextday I moseyed
on down to The Nugget
and took the bat in hand.
It didn’t appear to be ill, it
wasn’tamyotis,norwasit
Townsend’s big-eared bat,
all of whom I know pretty
well,anditdidindeedlook
likeabigbrownbat.
Just to be sure, I drove
into Bend to visit with
Tom,andtheminutehesaw
it, he said, “Oh, that’s an
adult male big brown bat
(Eptesicusfuscus).”
Petehadhititrightonthe
money.
Said bat made a lot of
complainingnoises,squeak-
ingloudlywhenTompicked
it up in his bat gloves. He
pronounced it healthy, but
said it looked hungry and
dehydrated, and had (prob-
ably) been awakened from
itshibernationforsomerea-
son.(Batsdowakeupdur-
ing hibernation to defecate
andbuildupoxygenintheir
blood.)
I was under the impres-
sion most brown bats left
SistersCountryforsouthern
climes at the end of sum-
mer, but Tom ensured me
that several will remain in
winter in Central Oregon,
if they can find a suitable
hibernaculum. Apparently
thisone—andinallprob-
ability,severalofitsrelatives
andfriends—foundsucha
placeintheatticoftheedi-
tor’soffice.
(Editor’s note: Insert your
own joke here.)
Then Tom went on to
describe a small colony
spendingwinterinhishome
inBend,andhowpleasedhe
wasfortheircompany.
Bigbrownbatsare—like
all of the North American
bats — nocturnal, roosting
summerdaysinhollowtrees,
beneath loose tree bark, in
the crevices of rocks, or in
man-made structures such
as attics, barns, old build-
ings,undereaves,andinbat
houses.Likeallourbats,big
brownbatsnavigatethrough
the night skies by use of
echolocation, by producing
ultrasonic sounds through
the mouth, which also pin-
pointsprey.
Theyareexpertsatcatch-
ingmanykindsofnight-fly-
inginsectsincludingmoths,
beetles and even wasps
(including yellow jack-
ets). The strange-looking
JerusalemcricketofSisters
Country (aka Child of the
Earth)—thatsendsshivers
downsomepeople’sspines
whentheyseeone—isalso
prey,buttheydon’teatthe
heads.
Bigbrownbatshibernate
during the winter months,
often in different locations
from their summer roosts.
Winter roosts tend to be
caves and underground
mines where temperatures
remain stable, however,
where a large majority of
photo by Jim anderson
NPS wildlife and bat biologist, Tom Rodhouse looking over an adult male
big brown bat that dropped into The Nugget office.
thesebatsspendthewinter
isstillunknown.Thatsaid,
we now know the attic of
The Nuggetofficeisonewe
didn’tknowof.
Itneverfails!Everyone
of those late-evening and
early morning calls and
texts always provides me
withsomefacetofNatureI
didn’tknow(orforgot)and
enrichesmylife.
Tom and I chin-wagged
about the bat and we both
decided it looked rather
emaciatedandneededafew
square meals and rehydra-
tion.Well,myoldveterinar-
ianpal,Dr.JeffCooneyhasa
rehaboperationinBendand
plentyofmealworms,sohe
nowhasthebattofattenup.
Whenthetimecomesfor
thewanderingbattoreturn
tothe“wild,”sotospeak,I’ll
seeifthecrewatThe Nugget
will have a positive atti-
tude about their (apparent)
smallcolonyofhibernating
big brown bats above their
officesandbepleasedtosee
meplacetheirrenterbackin
JimC’sattic.
Or,Icouldtakeitoutto
oneofthemanylavatubesin
Bendthathasseveralcolo-
niesofmyotisandbig-eared
batssleepingawaythewin-
ter,buttheymaynothavea
positiveattitudeaboutabat
thatdoesn’tspeaktheirlan-
guage,orsnores...
Best Wishes for a Wonderful
Holiday and a Very
Happy New Year.
Year-round
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h e Episcopal
Church of the
Transfi guration
invites you to attend
352 E. Hood Ave.
Christmas Eve
Services
h ursday,
December 24
4 p.m., Family Service
and Holy Eucharist
9 p.m., Traditional Service
with Holy Eucharist
Childcare provided at both services.
68825 Brooks Camp Rd.,
off of Hwy. 242, in Sisters
541 549-7087
www.episcopalchurchsisters.org
(across from Lutton’s)
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541-549-9999
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