THE BLACK RIVER AND BEYOND 



Old 



May Be 



Rare Bat 



» — | — • 



_L he Black River 



forest grozvs in ancient 

 isolation. 



Fezv places in North 

 Carolina can compare 

 to its szuampy beauty. 

 And few places are a 

 better habitat for the rare 

 and possibly endangered 

 eastern big-eared bat. 



Researcher hAary 

 Kay Clark has searched 

 10 years for this bat, 

 uncovering colonies on 

 the Black River and in 

 other mature szvamp 

 forests in North Carolina 

 and Virginia. Her find- 

 ings may cast nezv light 

 on the importance of this 

 unique zvooded habitat 

 to cavity- dzvelling 

 creatures. 



By J eannie F ari s 



eastern big-eared bat is 

 fluttering through the nighttime woods, 

 foraging for moths to eat. Its body is 

 small and furry; its wings, soft and 

 crepe-paper thin. Its tiny round head 

 is dwarfed by a pair of towering, 

 pointed ears. 



The bat is like most of its species, 

 with one exception. It has lost its gift 

 of stealth to a chemiluminescent bulb 

 glued to its back, giving it the appear- 

 ance of a giant, weaving firefly. 



This light tag makes the bat visible 

 to a nearby observer, who broadcasts 

 its erratic flight pattern over a walkie- 

 talkie, at the same time recording its 

 actions for a North Carolina research 

 project. 



The observer notes that the bat is 

 cutting a lighted zig-zag pattern over 

 and through the forest foliage. It soars 

 high and low again like a boat riding 



1 6 MARCH/APRIL 1994 



