Bex Jackson introduced Plimmerton Rotary to Bats
Bex Jackson is the daughter of club member Ann Scannell, and a field worker with DoC in Te Anau, where she has lived for some time. She has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in zoology and conservation.
Among other things, Bex is involved with a project studying New Zealand’s native bats. She gave us a well-illustrated account of the work, which is centred on Eglinton, in Fjordland.
In New Zealand, bats are geographically widespread but rather rare, and inconspicuous. There are two species, long and short tailed, and their behaviour is quite different.
The long-tailed bat is more common, it lives in small colonies, weighs 10 grams, and moves around a lot. It can live in urban areas and can be seen at dusk in Hamilton. It catches insects on the wing.
The short-tailed bat is heavier at 15 grams, it lives in large colonies, and can occupy the same roost for weeks at a time. This one, unusually, can walk about on the forest floor to catch insects as well as catching them in flight.
Both types can live for as long as 15 or 20 years.
Colonies of bats can be found by analysing recordings of kiwis in the wild; as well as the ultrasonic echolocation noises they make, they also squeak rather like mice.
Bats are under threat, from habitat loss and predation by rats, stoats, and moreporks.
In the Eglinton study, RFID chips weighing about one gram are attached to the bats and their movements are monitored. The primary aim is to check female survival rates, which are key to population survival. In the last 15 years over 3500 bats have been tagged, and the colony is doing well.
Bex reminded us that bats are protected, and our NZ species don’t have diseases that humans can catch.
Bex also thinks that bats are not ugly, although not all of her audience agreed.
Best way to use leftovers?
I'm sure you've got some excess ham at home or cold roast potatoes.
What are some of your favourite ways to use leftover food from Christmas day? Share below.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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61.9% Summer
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36.6% Winter
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1.5% Other - I'll share below
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