Bats Again

Before I left Kaingaroa I took a fantastic tramping trip. I was looking for short-tailed bats, which is the extremely unusual tunnelling variety they have here. I had looked before without finding any, so this time I went down the east valley of the Whirinaki, based on some advice from a conservation officer. I headed out in the afternoon, and as it got dark, I turned on the bat detector. At 8:30, I finally heard a bat arrive and soon there were a number of them feeding around me. I could hear a number of feeding buzzes, but it was so dark under the canopy that I couldn't see any. I tried flicking on my light and I clearly saw one fly by about 10 feet away! It was very lucky. After an hour, I headed back, and while walking, I had one more bat fly through my light about 3 feet away. These bats are not that well known and few New Zealanders have seen or heard one, so it was a great find.



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