#chesnut short-tailed bat

[drafthearse]

Chestnut short-tailed bat teeth (Juvenile Male)

[myenterpriseisparked]

hey can i also get a bat fact? i want a fruit bat fact please

Yes the heck you can!!!!!!!! You can even have several fruit bat facts!!!!!!!!! Don't limit yourself to one!!!!!!

So there are approximately 166 species of fruit bat (out of around 1300 total bat species), making them one of the largest sections of the chiropteran order! They are a super diverse group of species, with the smallest fruit bat, the Spotted Wing Fruit Bat, being about 5-6 cm in length, while the largest fruit bat, the Indian Flying Fox, (which is also the largest bat in general) has a wingspan of up to 6 feet.

It's this guy right here. And he's not even flexing on us by stretching his wings all the way out because he's polite and humble.

Most of them are pretty distinct, anatomically, from insectivorous or hematophagous bat species. Most notably, they usually have smaller ears and lack a nose leaf because those are important for echolocation and fruit bats don't rely as heavily on echolocation since fruits do not run or fly like a bug and are thus much easier to track down.

Here's a comparison between a Rodrigues Fruit Bat and a Chesnut Short-Tailed bat so you can see the difference! The Chestnut bat has a membrane around its nose that allows it to better control the pitch of its voice during echolocation, while the fruit bat does not!

,Fruit bats are incredibly important in terms of pollination! They consume a multitude of different fruits and then drop the seeds in new locations via their manure, allowing for the spread of fruit species. Additionally, bat guano is packed with a bunch of good nutrients, enhancing the soil the seeds are dropped in so that the seeds are basically set up for an EXCELLENT start in life. Getting eaten by a bat and then pooped out is the fruit equivalent of getting grant funding or a scholarship. I wish a fruit bat would eat my research projects.

Anyway, fruit bats can live for a really long time! Most bat species do, actually, but the fruit bats are particularly good at the long-life thing. usually they live just under 20 years in the wild, but some species have been known to live up to 30 years! Most other animals that are similar in size to bats can barely swing 15 years, let alone ten or even five in the wild. The long lifespans of bats can be attributed to their ability to process oxygen, which can be attributed to their insanely large heart-to-body ratio! Their hearts can make up between 1-2.5% of their body weight.

Here's some other animals to compare that to:

Yeah, you read that right, the average male dog's heart makes up 0.743% of their body weight. Get rekt. Bats are cool.

[rainiervolunteersnps]

Did you know there are 185 species of birds, 65 species of mammals, 14 species of amphibians, 14 species of fish, 5 species of reptiles, and hundreds of species of invertebrates that call Mount Rainier home? Our Wildlife Ecology Team does amazing work keeping track of the population size, health, and behavior of the critters here at the park and they are always partnering with volunteers and visitors. Below is information from our park ecologist, Tara Chesnut, on how to get involved with the Wildlife Program though volunteering, how to report wildlife sightings, and information on Mount Rainier’s bears.

Wildlife Volunteer Opportunities:

Bat Emergence Counts - we are tracking bat colonies in buildings and structures and would love your help. Counts will occur through late August. We start 30 minutes before sunset and end about an hour after sunset. Next week (June 24-26), we're focusing efforts at Longmire, surveying all of the buildings scheduled for roof replacement and can use all the help we can get! We will also be conducting surveys at Ohana and Carbon River Ranger Station throughout the season.

Cascade Red Fox Trail Surveys - we are collaborating with the Cascade Carnivore Research Project to understand the distribution of Cascade Red Fox, which is Washington's only native fox and only occurs in Washington State. Despite not having protected status at this time, Cascade Red Fox is at-risk (fewer than 20 females are estimated to have kits each year throughout their range) and Mount Rainier is a key hub between the southern and northern portions of their range. All surveys occur on trail - in short, the job involves hiking and picking up scats. Priority areas include Golden Lakes, Klapatche Park, St Andrews Park, Mowich to Spray Park, Seattle Park to Marmot Lake, Pinnacle Peak Trail, Beljica Meadows and Christine Lake, Emerald Ridge to Devils Dream, Summerland to Indian Bar, Upper Pallisades, and others.

Pika Surveys - We have conducted pika surveys for 13 years at Mount Rainier with the goal of understanding their status and population trends to determine if they are stable, increasing or declining. If you are an experienced backcountry hiker and are comfortable on unstable talus slopes (boulder fields) this may be the right opportunity for you!   

Bird Banding/MAPS Station - We operate a bird banding station at Sunshine Point, contributing to a continent-wide effort of over 1,000 stations to assist with the conservation of birds and their habitats through demographic monitoring. We are collaborating with the Education Program to provide opportunities for youth programs and park staff to learn more about birds and assist with the project.  https://www.birdpop.org/pages/maps.php Brenda Romero-Ramirez will be leading a group of park staff on Friday, June 28 to visit the station from 8am to 11am.

If you are interested in participating in any of the above projects, please indicate your interests by filling out this form.

Additional Volunteer Opportunities with the Natural and Cultural Resources Division -

Geology and Imminent Threats team at Mount Rainier study the "every-day" geologic hazards, including flooding, outburst floods, debris flows, rock falls, and other geologic and volcanic hazards. Our team cannot be in all places of the park - if you ever witness any of the previously mentioned events, or witness any other type of geologic event, we need your observation! Please go to the following site to enter your observation: http://www.morageology.com/public_geoEvent.php  

Amphibian Community Science Monitoring  https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/photosmultimedia/citizen-science.htm

MeadoWatch  http://www.meadowatch.org/2019-season-orientation.html

Curatorial Assistant  https://www.nps.gov/mora/getinvolved/vip-positions.htm

Wildlife Reporting Resources:

Visitors and volunteers can now report wildlife sightings and upload pictures by going to https://arcg.is/rLOiy Species of particular interest include any owls, peregrine falcon, golden eagle, northern goshawk, white-tailed ptarmigan, harlequin duck (especially female with chicks), Cascade red fox (especially kits), fisher, wolverine, coyotes, wolves (not yet documented south of I-90), western toad, western bumblebee.

Prior to visiting the park, visitors can download species lists for the park from NPSpecies. All photo verified records reported to the wildlife observations database will be uploaded to NPSpecies (https://www.nps.gov/articles/npspecies.htm)  

You can also report observations of any living thing at park, at home, or when you travel using iNaturalist, eBird, and eMammal. Verified reports in parks from all of these sources are also added to NPSpecies (yes, including the tardigrade we found during the 2016 BioBlitz!)

https://www.inaturalist.org/

https://ebird.org/home

https://emammal.si.edu/participate

Mount Rainier Bear Information:

Congrats to Mike McClain for reporting the first bear of the season (Utilities, May 10, 2019)!!! Please enjoy your major award (the chain saw bear trophy)! Past recipients include Jeff Gardner (Visitor Protection, May 5, 2015), Steve Hughes (Visitor Protection, May 12, 2016) and John Vonk (Visitor Protection, April 26, 2017), Brady Nicholson (pictured, General Maintenance, May 10, 2018).

You can find up to date information about black bears and safety on the WDFW and NPS websites. Washington is home to both grizzly bears and black bears. Only black bears occur at MORA. Grizzly bears are rare in Washington, but a small population exists in the Selkirk Mountains of northeast Washington, and their presence has been documented in the Okanogan Highlands and the North Cascades.

https://wdfw.wa.gov/living/bears.html

https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/bear_cougar/bear/files/who.pdf

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/black-bears.htm

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/index.htm

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/safety.htm

Our park is full of fascinating creatures and the more we are able to learn about them the better we are able to make decisions to protect them. Remember to never approach (and never ever never feed) any wildlife but stay at a distance that keeps you and makes the animal feel safe. If you see an animal that has wandered into a high visitor use area that maybe shouldn’t be there, let rangers or volunteers at the visitor centers know as soon as possible.

See you on the trails!