Misc.-Allen's Big-eared Bat TB02

This trackable has the goal to circulate more than five years and to be moved by at least 25 cachers. That is a rate of five drops per year for five years, or a drop every 73 days.  As of 19-Nov-20 it had survived for 5.6 years and had been moved by 10 cachers, for an average release every 204 days.

No permission is needed to leave the U.S.  While in the U.S., please drop it in a Premium Member only OR a rural cache near a busy trail or road. Do not place it in an urban cache or abandon it at a caching event where there is no security.  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 trackable anywhere you wish.

Trackable photos are appreciated, but do not show the tracking code. The photos will 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.