ocean swells. It flies slowly, compared 

 to other bats, and seems to hover in 

 places. Quite possibly, the bat's big 

 ears are listening for a moth's 

 wingbeats or echolocating its position 

 by sounding high-frequency notes that 

 boomerang off the prey. Working like 

 radar, these ears are 

 thought to help 

 track its next meal. 



About 20 ob- 

 servers are staked 

 out in these woods 

 and on a nearby 

 river, watching and 

 listening, each wait- 

 ing his or her turn to 

 report on the lights 

 that approach one at 

 a time. 



"I see the bat 

 has landed about a 

 meter from the 

 ground," says one. 



"(It) dipped (to) 

 the water three or 

 four times," reports 

 another. 



"The bats are in 

 the tree ... I can see 

 a light flashing 

 down in the base of 

 the hollow ... ." 



This elaborate 

 setup begs the ques- 

 tion, why so much 

 fuss over a bat? 

 Bats, after all, have 

 been cast the villain 

 by centuries-old 

 folklore. 



In truth, this bat 

 is harmless, unless 

 you're a moth. 



It doesn't even 

 look dangerous, 



with wide-set eyes and a small mouth 

 that conceals sharp teeth. Its expres- 

 sion is placid compared to other fero- 

 cious-faced bats with bigger, more 

 prominent teeth for biting down on 

 beetles and hard-bodied insects. It is 

 mouselike, gray-brown with a light 



underbelly. Two large lumps protrude 

 from its snout, although no one really 

 knows why. Its giant ears, tall and 

 ribbed when erect, curl ramlike along 

 its head to conserve body heat when it 

 rests. Long hairs grow between its toes. 

 For a different point of view, how- 



Merlin D Tuitle, Bat Conservation International 



The eastern big-eared bat of the coastal plain has been found roosting 

 in abandoned buildings and old, hollow trees. 



ever, talk to Mary Kay Clark, curator 

 of mammals at the N.C. Museum of 

 Natural Sciences. She sees this bat as 

 more than a composite of its less-than- 

 beautiful parts. On the contrary, she 

 says, all bats are fascinating creatures 

 with countless strange facial adapta- 



tions to help them along in life. 



On two hot July nights in 1988, 

 Clark and her research recruits had the 

 eastern big-eared bat under surveil- 

 lance. The mission of their forest stake- 

 out was to pry loose a few closely 

 guarded secrets of the reclusive and 

 possibly endan- 

 gered Plecotus 

 rafinesquii. 



One by one, 

 they light-tagged 

 27 bats outside 

 their roost and re- 

 leased them into 

 the woods for a 

 rare glimpse at how 

 they seek out food 

 and shelter. Clark 

 then pieced the 

 information into 

 the complex puzzle 

 of this bat's habitat 

 needs. 



Years of study 

 have given the 

 puzzle shape. The 

 pieces still missing 

 might be found in 

 old forests akin to 

 those on the Black 

 and Yeopim rivers. 



Clark believes 

 the bat once 

 roosted and foraged 

 widely in these and 

 other mature for- 

 ests in North Caro- 

 lina. But with the 

 decimation of the 

 drier upland woods, 

 the only remaining 

 refuge for this bat 

 may be the old 

 swamp forests, a 

 unique and perish- 

 ing habitat. She wants to know if the 

 bat still lives in tree hollows there. If 

 so, her findings can guide the level of 

 habitat protection, if any, the bat needs. 



To date, however, only four tree 

 roosts are known for this bat in the 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 17 



