Episode 78 (September 5, 2011): "Little Brown Bats Eating Mosquitoes," by Timothy Seaman

Click to listen to episode (2:25).

Please see below (after the transcript and show notes) for links to news and upcoming events.
 

TRANSCRIPT

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of September 5, 2011.

This week we feature a musical selection that reminds us of a nightly aerial duel between predator and water-based parasite.  Have a listen for about 35 seconds.

MUSIC.

You’ve been listening to part of “Little Brown Bats Eating Mosquitoes,” performed by Timothy Seaman on his 2004 CD “Virginia Wildlife,” from Pine Wind Music.  Mosquitoes, which breed in a wide variety of still-water habitats, are well-known for their unrelenting whine and their biting habit, which is annoying at best and disease-spreading at worst.  On the positive side, however, mosquitoes are food for a variety of animals, including other insects, fish, birds, and—as reflected in the title of this song—bats.  Little Brown Bats, found throughout Virginia as well as in most other states, emerge at dusk to hunt for various kinds of insects.  At two-to-four inches in length, these bats may be little, but their ability to catch and eat as much as half their body weight each night gives them a big, valued reputation as a natural control on mosquitoes.

For other water sounds and music, and for more Virginia water information, visit our Web site at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  From the Virginia Water Resources Research Center in Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

SHOW NOTES

Acknowledgments:  This week's episode repeats the musical selection and some of the information previously used in Episode 53 (week of February 14, 2011); Emily Whitesell helped write that episode.  Thanks to Timothy Seaman for permission to use “Little Brown Bats Eating Mosquitoes,” copyright Timothy Seaman and Pine Wind Music (http://www.timothyseaman.com/). 

Sources and More information:  Information about mosquitoes was taken from “Mosquitoes and Water,” Virginia Water Central, June 2009, available online at www.vwrrc.vt.edu/watercentral.html.  Information about Little Brown Bats was taken from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) Web site at http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/?s=050020, and the New Hampshire Fish and Game Web site at http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wildlife/Wildlife_profiles/profile_LB_bat.htm.  Mr. Seaman did his 2004 “Virginia Wildlife” CD in collaboration with the Virginia DGIF to celebrate Virginia’s natural resources and support non-game wildlife programs.  “Little Brown Bats Eating Mosquitoes” was composed in honor of Virginia’s Non-Game Wildlife Tax Check-off.  Contributions by Virginia taxpayers through this tax check-off help protect the habitats of many non-game animals   Information about this tax check-off is available online at http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/donate/, and information about other voluntary contributions for Virginia taxpayers through various check-offs is available from the Virginia Department of Taxation at http://www.tax.virginia.gov/site.cfm?alias=voluntarycontributions.

Recent Virginia Water News

            For news relevant to Virginia's water resources, please visit the Virginia Water Central News Grouper, available online at http://vawatercentralnewsgrouper.wordpress.com/.

Water Meetings and Other Events

            For events related to Virginia's water resources, please visit the Quick Guide to Virginia Water–related Conferences, Workshops, and  Other Events, online at http://vwrrc.vt.edu/VAConfQuickGuide.html.  The site includes a list of Virginia government policy and regulatory meetings occurring in the coming week.