Bat Found in Teen's Bra!

[exile]

You should get down to Carlsbad Caverns National Park there you'll see a GAZILLION bats... mexican freetails...

Whoa, gazillions??! Now that is going to be a lot of bats!!

I'd really like to do that. We have a trip to the SW somewhere hazily planned up the line, and all three of us are bat-lovers. But first I need to achieve at least a green belt in photography with a digital camera, lol...

 

[MA-Caver]

Whoa, gazillions??! Now that is going to be a lot of bats!!

I'd really like to do that. We have a trip to the SW somewhere hazily planned up the line, and all three of us are bat-lovers. But first I need to achieve at least a green belt in photography with a digital camera, lol...

all you really need is a good tripod and a way releasing the shutter without touching the camera too much (think cable release)... as far as the settings... well ... let me get back to you on that...

 

[MA-Caver]

Unlike actual numbers, a zillion contains an implicit comparison: if you've seen zillions of cats, that's a lot of cats, but if you've seen zillions of Mesopotamian ziggurats, twenty will do. OK, so now...

BCI's mag usually has 5-10 per issue... over the course of the 10 years or so I've been a member, and given the number of picture of bats you normally see on TV, in the newspapers and newsmagazines, etc..... yes, that computes out to zillions!

Hey, Exile, see if you can identify this species... one picture as is and another zoomed in (by the photographer). It's location is somewhere in the Southwest for a clue.
Another caver took it's picture and was asking around for the species. I never seen one like it but think it's an awfully cute little thing. Note the hole in the wing... also another clue to the species.

 

[exile]

Hey, Exile, see if you can identify this species.

That's easy—it's a pallid bat (Antrazous pallidous) going by the appearance of the poor critter... look at at the size of the eyes!

(Not sure about the hole in the wing, though... are these little fellows prone to that injury more than other bats?)

 

[MA-Caver]

That's easy—it's a pallid bat (Antrazous pallidous) going by the appearance of the poor critter... look at at the size of the eyes!

Good guess... one expert says :

I would say CORTOW if I had to guess . . . when you look at a CORTOW head on, the tips of the tragi and ears and muzzle appear very dark like that (especially when the rest of the furry parts of the bat are blown out by a too hot flash). ANTPAL is more consistently light in the face . . . no big pointy tragus or lumpy face to absorb light . . . but that hole in the wing just SCREAMS ANTPAL to me; and 100 bats is REALLY big for a CORTOW colony (but with bats, just a couple dozen can seem like "hundreds"). But, ANTPAL isn't as common in western CO as CORTOW; and the majority of CORTOW maternity colonies in CO are found in uranium mines. So, all evidence points to CORTOW . . . tho many a suspect has been wrongfully convicted on far less.

The spot on the wing is a hole...typical of a ANTPAL as they are scrappy little buggers, but any bat with some miles on it could have a hole.
http://forums.caves.org/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=7003&p=58269#p58269

Whatever it is, it's just cute. Also Pallid bats that I've seen (very rare sighting at that) have longer and more tapered ears. This guy's ears are more triangular in shape... wouldn't you agree?

 

[exile]

Good guess... one expert says :


Whatever it is, it's just cute. Also Pallid bats that I've seen (very rare sighting at that) have longer and more tapered ears. This guy's ears are more triangular in shape... wouldn't you agree?

Well, I'm no expert, and will gladly defer to those who are. But take a look here, particularly the first image in the upper left... looks like an identical twin of the one in your pics, no?

 

[Kacey]

Well, I'm no expert, and will gladly defer to those who are. But take a look here, http://images.google.com/images?hl=...&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

Uh... the second link was okay, but the first one went here - no bats on this site!

 

[exile]

Uh... the second link was okay, but the first one went here - no bats on this site!

Yeah, you caught me mid-edit—right royal screwing-up of the URL link there, that was... I've fixed it now. Three cheers for, and a mighty toast to, the edit feature, eh?

I'm gonna take a look at the Townsend's that MAC's source mentioned and see...

 

[Tez3]

Bear in mind the girl comes from Norwich, odd people there, they also reckon they have baby elephants wandering the streets. ( It's pronouned "Norrich" btw)
http://www.visitnorwich.co.uk/

 

[exile]

Bear in mind the girl comes from Norwich, odd people there, they also reckon they have baby elephants wandering the streets. ( It's pronouned "Norrich" btw)
http://www.visitnorwich.co.uk/

The key question, though, is whether they have odd bats in Norwich :lol:. (And yes, we've known about the typically eccentric spelling/pronunciation pairing with Norwich ever since Adrian was a baby and we read him the Mother Goose rhyme about The Man in the Moon came down too soon/And asked his way to Norwich/He went by the south, and burned his mouth/With supping cold plum porridge. Ah, the memories...)

Looking at the Townsend's bat image here, it's kind of hard to tell... he's got pretty triangular ears too... big ones! Bigger looking than the ones in the original pic, I'd say...

 

[MA-Caver]

Looking at the Townsend's bat image here, it's kind of hard to tell... he's got pretty triangular ears too... big ones! Bigger looking than the ones in the original pic, I'd say...

Well Townsend's I've seen up close, and held them (with supervision of a bat rescuer/rehabilitation specialist) and yeah their ears are huge in relative to their body size. Also their facial markings are just plain. Got to see so many of them (caves and mines in Utah) that it'd be hard for me to mistake one for another species.
I'll keep an eye out on the thread in the other forum and hopefully someone will resolve the mystery.

Hmm... maybe it's a Western Pip.?? Got the right ear shape I think and light coloring?? Unfortunately in the original photo there's nothing really to give it scale because the animal is flying away from the mine-entrance and there's no telling how close it is to the photographer... but it's native to Oregon and the guy took the photo in the southwestern desert area states http://www.dfw.state.or.us/swwd/bats.html.

 

[exile]

Hmm... maybe it's a Western Pip.?? Got the right ear shape I think and light coloring?? Unfortunately in the original photo there's nothing really to give it scale because the animal is flying away from the mine-entrance and there's no telling how close it is to the photographer... but it's native to Oregon and the guy took the photo in the southwestern desert area states http://www.dfw.state.or.us/swwd/bats.html.

I don't know anything about Western Pips—thanks for the tip! Have tried looking for images... no luck, but this photo of a Townsend's Big Ear (shades of Noddy, eh? :wink1 that I came across while searching makes me think that that probably isn't the right ID for the photo you sent. I mean, look at the size of them suckers, compared to the bat's head size sans ears... probably two to one! Very different from the case of that poor little guy with the hole in his wing...

 

[Xue Sheng]

Not to derail but I am betting she would have noticed if one of these was in her bra

 

[exile]

Not to derail but I am betting she would have noticed if one of these was in her bra

:uhyeah:

 

[Kacey]

Not to derail but I am betting she would have noticed if one of these was in her bra

I would sincerely hope so!!!!!

 

[tshadowchaser]

I have held off for three pages but I got to say this .
Did you look at the size of those cups? She could have hid anything in them
Ok sorry for being an old dirty man

 

[MA-Caver]

I have held off for three pages but I got to say this .
Did you look at the size of those cups? She could have hid anything in them
Ok sorry for being an old dirty man

I saw the size of those cups... but with her being a teenager I elected to say nothing. Besides I think it's a photographic distortion as he is holding the entire thing close to the camera which distorts the perspective, making things larger than they appear.