1.What is
your job title and where do you work? Also, how long
have you worked there?
Dr.
McCreedy:
I am a
Wildlife Biologist that works for the USDA Forest
Service on the Hoosier National Forest here in southern
Indiana. I’ve been here now for a little over four
years.
2. Why did you
decide to become a wildlife biologist?
Dr.
McCreedy:
I grew up on
a ranch in northwest Montana, near a town called
Kalispell, so I lived in an area where encountering
wildlife was an everyday experience. So, I think I
acquired this interest by living in one of the most
beautiful places in the Northwest and because I enjoyed
being outdoors.
3.
When did you become interested in working
specifically about bats?
Dr.
McCreedy:
I really
became interested in bats when I went to that most well
known of Indiana colleges – Purdue University! One of my
professors, Dr. Russ Mumford, had done lots of research
related to bats so I was fortunate to gain an interest
in these animals because of his experience.
4.
What is it about bats that you find most interesting?
Dr.
McCreedy:
This is a
tough question!! Everything about bats is interesting!!
For example, they have their own language and an ability
to use sound well above the range of sounds that you and
I can hear. They are obviously extremely intelligent
animals – it is fascinating to watch the nets when we
try and capture these animals. Frequently, they will
turn ‘on a dime’ inches from the net in near total
darkness. It is extremely rare that we recapture a bat –
they learn very quickly what the nets are! Not only do
these animals return to the same caves year after year,
they frequently return to the exact same spot in a cave.
They all require free-standing water, but they don’t
land to take a drink. They drink by flying over the
surface of the water and taking a drink ‘on the wing.’
They are incredibly small animals, incredibly active,
but they are longer lived than many animals of similar
size. Many are migratory, living in one part of the
United States part of the year, and another area of the
country at other times. The Indiana bat may migrate over
500 miles between its winter and summer habitats! Most
bats give birth to only one pup per year, and not all
females give birth to a pup in any given year. Bats like
the Indiana bat may hibernate for nearly six months of
the year (and then they have to migrate!). Being a bat
seems to me like a difficult way to make a living, but
somehow they do it.
5.
What bats have you worked with?
Dr.
McCreedy:
Though my
greatest interest is in the identification of maternal
colonies of the Indiana bat, I’ve been lucky to have had
in hand almost all of our Eastern forest bats: the
Eastern pipistrelle, little brown bat, big brown bat,
Indiana bat, gray bat, red bat, small-footed bat,
Northern long-eared bat, and the hoary bat. Even people
who are not fascinated by bats agree that the frost
colored fur of the hoary bat is down right attractive:
Hoary Bat
(click on the photograph to see larger image)
(courtesy Dr. Clark McCreedy)
Another
biologist here on the Hoosier National Forest, Steve
Harris, and I hope that we will eventually find
Rafinesque’s big-eared bat on the forest.
6.
What is your favorite bat?
My all time
favorite bat is one we find right here. We frequently
capture this bat when we are trying to net the
endangered Indiana bat. My favorite is the red bat (Lasiurus
borealis).
Red
Bat
(Click on this photograph to see larger image)
(courtesy Dr. Clark McCreedy)
This bat
seldom enters caves! This is another bat that is sort of
a mystery, some red bats appear to migrate south, some
are non-migratory and appear to spend the entire year
locally. Because they may experience cold temperatures,
lower than most bats will tolerate, they use some unique
behaviors to survive and this is why they fascinate me.
Most of the time these bats will hibernate in trees,
usually using tree cavities. But, if it gets too cold
they will become leaf-litter bats! They will burrow
under leaf litter until they are covered enough to be
insulated from the cold. This is one of the reasons
these animals are the color they are – they are the
color of leaves that have fallen to the ground. This
coloration may protect them from predators when they are
on the ground seeking shelter from the cold. Here is a
‘way cool’ picture of a red bat with its wings (arms &
hands) spread across my glove. You should be able to
easily identify the thumb, fingers, wrist and elbow.
About
bat research...
1.
Why do you band bats?
Dr.
McCreedy:
Bats are banded for the same reason that
biologists band birds – by banding
them in one location, and then capturing,
or finding them in a cave as in the case
of bats, we can begin to map how bats
travel from their winter habitat to their
summer habitat. Indiana bats may
hibernate in one location, like
Wyandotte, and then in the spring may fly
over 500 miles to their summer habitat.
If we can learn where they live at both
times of the year, then we can begin to
better ensure their protection.
An Indiana
bat cluster with one banded bat
(click on this photograph to get a larger
image)
(Courtesy Dr. Clark McCreedy)
Each band
has a unique number on it that allows
biologists to track exactly when and
where an individual bat has been
captured. This also gives us some
information about how long these animals
live in the wild – as much as 15
years which for an animal this small is
absolutely amazing.
2.How
do you band bats?
Dr.
McCreedy:
Because all
bats are protected, any bat banding
project has to begin by asking for
permission!
All bats in
Indiana are protected by state law –
so any biologist that wants to study bats
must first obtain a ‘Scientific
Collection Permit’ to begin their
research. To obtain this permit, every
biologist has to inform the Indiana
Division of Fish and Wildlife (http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/) of what
they hope to accomplish and then we have
to describe the experience we have that
qualifies us to work with bats, or any
other protected animal. If we want to
work with endangered species, like the
Indiana bat, we must also obtain a permit
from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (http://www.fws.gov/endangered/).
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