Misc.-Allen's Big-eared Bat TB

This travel bug has two modest goals, to survive more than five years and to be moved by 25 cachers.  As of 3-Nov-18 it had been circulating for 7.5 years, but it had been moved by only 19 cachers.

Please drop this item in rural OR Premium Member Only caches.  Do not place it in an urban cache or abandon it at a caching event.  Transport the bug in the original plastic bag for as long as the bag lasts; the bag keeps the trackable clean, protects the number and prevents tangling with other items.  Otherwise, take the travel bug anywhere you wish.  No permission is needed to leave the U.S.

Travel bug photos are appreciated and will be re-posted here.

Laminated Photograph. The TB owner was trained as a field biologist back in the dim time.  Though retired from full-time work, he has continued some summer projects, mostly involving bats.  This photo was taken in southeastern Utah.   This face is merely unusual among bats, there are many that are more bizarre.  The bat obviously has conspicuously large ears.  When roosting, or when the bats are being handled, the ears are folded and coiled  into "ram's horns" which lay along the sides of the bat's neck.
 
This species is tawny colored and about two inches in length with a wingspan ranging from 12 to 14 inches.  These versatile bats adapt their flight patterns and sound emissions (echolocation calls) to varying terrains.  Some of their echolocation calls are audible to humans as a series of "cheeps" or "clicks."  
 
They are capable of straight, direct flight, but can also fly slowly, maneuver well, and even hover, so they can forage in and among tree branches. They mostly eat small moths but also take other insects.  Allen's big-eared bat is found in extreme southern Nevada, the southern third of Utah, throughout Arizona, in the southwestern quarter of New Mexico, and south through the interior of Mexico. It is most often encountered in ponderosa pine, pinyon-juniper, pine-oak woodland, and riparian habitats above 3,000 feet.