SCOOPIN' POOP

Yes, you read that right. I spent today in the field sampling bat guano for a genetics study that our team is conducting over the next 3-4 years. We visited 2 bridges and 2 abandoned buildings (in and around Port Gibson) where multiple species of bats have been documented in large numbers in past years, and essentially scooped individual scats into sample tubes. We'll extract DNA from these samples, which will contain DNA not only from the bat itself, but also any prey items they've consumed, endo- and exo- parasites, and in some cases, the fungus responsible for White-Nose Syndrome. After a series of experiments to confirm our ability to detect each aspect individually (bat species ID, gender, population estimate, and genetic health, plus ID of dietary items, parasites, and Pseudogymnoascus destructans), we'll pool the DNA into a single next-generation sequencing run to demonstrate the plethora of information that can be gained quickly and non-invasively about endangered bat populations using the latest DNA technologies. Cool, right?

And now for some poop pictures. And bat pictures, since they are far cuter.

Chester (retired ERDC employee that used to be my birding buddy) spotting a bat under a bridge

A couple of Rafinesque's big-eared bats, in torpor

Guano collection from the concrete walls of the bridge supports

A long-abandoned home that now houses hundreds of Rafs

Cute little pile of Rafs on the old shower stall wall

A few more Rafs in the pink room. The one on the left stirred and stuck out his ears - they are so cute!

An abandoned church that now houses thousands of Mexican free-tailed bat

So much bat guano and urine that it's literally dripping out the gutters, rotting the floors, and peeling the paint and boards from the walls. The smell was incredible (and the bats aren't even there right now...), so we didn't go all the way in (not that the floor would have supported us anyway) or stay long (too many airborne diseases to be picked up from all that mess).

Wasp nests everywhere to go along with the bat guano...

That is not a dirt floor, by the way... it's ALL guano. Years and years of guano accumulation. My job is sometimes so very glamorous!

This used to be the smallest post office in Mississippi (not much bigger than the one in Ochopee, where we lived while working as SCA interns at Big Cypress National Preserve), when it was still operational. Nowadays, it's overtaken by bats, moving over (expanding?) from the old church across the street.