Jessica McCutchan

Jessica McCutchan

Sep 11, 2018

Group 6 Copy 147
0

Collecting cave samples

Collecting samples from the bats has some pros and cons compared to under the roost trees. Firstly outside weather isn’t as important, the urine and faeces samples are smaller in size but are in abundance with thousands of bats roosting inside, it is a very cool experience to walk and climb through the caves and it isn’t as smelly as the large fruit bats! On the downside it is very humid, often difficult to find the entrances, very slippery and there are cockroaches!

Beka beka in Fijian - these are the Fijian free-tailed bats or Fijian mastiff bats - Chaerephon bregullae

After laying down the plastic tarps in the afternoon we left the roost for several hours and came back to do the first round of sample collection that night. It is important that the samples are as fresh as possible and the collection is timed to avoid disturbing the bats’ sunset departure for foraging. In the morning we returned to find the sheets exactly where we left them (perfect) and tarps covered in samples!! 

Collecting urine and faecal samples

The urine is collected with a combination of swabs and pipettes and placed into tubes containing a type of preservative liquid. The faeces are collected in a similar method but more using swabs as chopsticks. We were able to fill our quota for this site so the the whole team (my guides, field assistants and myself) were very happy. 

The yellow tubes are where the samples go. Labeling all the tubes with unique code for each area.


0 comment

Join the conversation!Sign In

About This Project

Interactions between humans and bats can be both beneficial and detrimental. Habitat loss worldwide has increased human-bat contact. Bats can carry diseases that have devastating effects on livestock and human health. Many are found in South East Asia, however the presence or absence of these diseases has never been studied in Fiji. Identifying how humans and bats interact in Fiji will improve bat conservation, and benefit human health if disease is found.

Blast off!

Browse Other Projects on Experiment

Related Projects

Urban Pollination: sustain native bees & urban crops

Bee activity on our crop flowers is crucial to human food security, but bees are also declining around the...

Wormfree World - Finding New Cures

Hookworms affect the lives of more than 400,000,000 men, women and children around the world. The most effective...

Viral Causes of Lung Cancer

We have special access to blood specimens collected from more than 9,000 cancer free people. These individuals...

Add a comment