PGF Leaf #11 - Brown bat Traditional Cache
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(regular)
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Each of the geocaches in the PGF Leaf series will highlight an animal that can be found in the Starkey Wilderness Preserve. While searching for the PGF Leaf caches, and while hiking in any wilderness area, please remember ... this is the animal's home - you are merely a guest. Be respectful of natural communities, and leave nothing behind but footprints.
Cachers are invited to upload pictures they take of each animal subject - as long as the picture was actually taken within the boundaries of the Starkey Wilderness Park.
Brown bat
Several sub-species are known, but it is likely you will be seeing the "big brown bat" in Starkey Park. They are medium to large sized bats with wingspans that can reach 13 to 14 inches. The fur is brown and silky.
Although they can be scary to look at in up-close pictures, and are the subject of much folklore, bats are very beneficial to humans. They are insectivores - which means they eat insects. If you don't like mosquitoes and other biting pests, you should love bats. Tales of bats dive bombing people and trying to nest in their hair are pure fiction.
Brown bats typically make their homes in cavities they find in dead trees. They will also take advantage of cracks and crevices in old buildings, when available. Human placed bat houses are also popular roosts. When you come across a rectangular shaped wooden box with narrow slits in the bottom mounted on a tall post in the woods, that would be a bat house.
Female brown bats usually give birth to two pups in May or June of the year. They live to an average age of 7 to 9 years. Bats are nocturnal and navigate largely by means of echolocation.
This cache was placed by a member of the PGF Leaf team and is maintained by the WestPascoEventTeam
The PGF Leaf Project is a geocaching series placed with the cooperation and permission of Pasco County Parks & Recreation Department, Pasco Department of Tourism, and the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)