Day 340: Recently, our Park Wildlife Biologist put out a request for volunteers willing to sew "bat bags" as part of a study project related to White-Nose Syndrome, a fungal disease which is decimating bat populations across the country. White-Nose was detected a mere 30 miles north of the Park boundary earlier this year and may exist within our confines although we are not yet aware of it. This project will involve the capture, testing and subsequent release of bats in specific locations. Obviously, we do not want to risk contaminating healthy bats by exposing them to anything which has come into contact with infected ones, so the holding bags in which they will be placed prior to testing will have to be laundered before being reused. Tara's request was for 600 bags (way out of Natural Resources' meager budget if purchased from a commercial supplier), so our former campground host and I put our heads together and came up with a plan. She would provide as much fabric as I felt I had time to sew over the winter, and I'd do the stitchery.
A 25-yard bolt of 36" muslin is just enough to make 81 bags. Each bag requires two feet of 1/4 or 3/8" grosgrain ribbon to use as a tie, and the bags must be constructed in such a manner that there is no danger of a bat becoming entangled in loose threads. I have completed 21 bags of a projected 243 and have 60 more to make from the first of three bolts. It's taken me 7 hours to get this far (time includes cutting the full bolt of fabric). We'd better get a lot of rainy days!
No comments:
Post a Comment