[PHOTO CREDIT: DF MCALPINE] – Myself on the left with the camera crew –
I recently spent two days with a CBC camera crew. They are making an episode of ‘Land and Sea’ on bats and white-nose syndrome in Atlantic Canada.
For the first day we took them to what was formally the biggest hibernaculum in New Brunswick. We found zero bats there this past winter compared to more than 6000 that were there in the winter of 2011. There were none there for this visit either; bats generally don’t use caves in the summer because caves are too cold. However, in this particular cave, there are the remains of bats that died of white-nose syndrome. Piles of bat wing bones and skulls litter the floor and this is what the CBC crew filmed. They were particularly impressed with the bat carcasses that remain hanging on the cave walls.
During the second day they focused on lab work and sit-down interviews. Hot work during this heat wave! The episode should air this fall and I’ll be sure to post a link to it!
[PHOTO CREDIT: DF MCALPINE]
[PHOTO CREDIT: KAREN VANDERWOLF]
[PHOTO CREDIT: DF MCALPINE]
Karen Vanderwolf
Karen has been interested in the natural world for as long as she can remember, and she always knew her career would take her into the field of biology. Karen received her Masters of Science at the University of New Brunswick, where she studied bats and the pre-white-nose syndrome fungal flora that occurs on them. She completed her Bachelor of Science (Hons.) in biology at the University of Western Ontario. Karen has previously worked with Ontario Parks, performing plant and salamander field work; assisted in preparations for a Karner Blue Butterfly reintroduction; and worked with Swift Foxes, Wood Turtles and waterfowl.
