Misc.-Big Free-tailed Bat TB02

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 and prevents tangling with other items.  Otherwise, take the travel bug anywhere you wish.  No permission is needed to leave the U.S.

Photos in the travel bug logs are appreciated.  I will be re-post them here, where they can be seen by other cachers.

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.  I have long believed that bats in this family were the models for the Ferengi on Star Trek, TNG.  The famous bat colony at Carlsbad Caverns is another species in the same family--similar in appearance but half the size.
 
The Big Free-tailed ranges from most of South America northward to include Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico, southern and western Texas, southern California and southeastern Nevada, southern Utah, and north to central Colorado. They are the second largest bat in the US, having a wingspan of nearly 18 inches.  This bat frequents rocky or canyon country where it roosts in crevices.  Moths seem to be the mainstay of their diet.  This bat is unlikely to be seen by the casual observer because it emerges late in the evening and forages at high altitudes. 
 
Although big free-tailed bats are locally abundant, they are often absent from seemingly appropriate habitat.  Since these bats are swift, powerful fliers they are rarely netted over any but the largest and most obstacle-free pools, it is quite possible that they are limited by suitable drinking sites, which are known to have decreased in number during historic times.  They migrate from their northern range in temperate regions in late summer, usually late August.