Rangataua cat nabs rare bat

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 11, Issue 521, 1 February 1994, Page 1

Rangataua cat nabs rare bat

A rare native short-tailed bat is being kept in the fridge of the Ohakune Ranger Station after it was handed in by a Rangataua resident, who found the body of the bat in the mouth of his cat. The find is only the 1 1th sighting of the species in the past 1 3 years, with the 1 Oth sighting only a few weeks ago near Lake Rotokura, Karioi. The Rangataua bat carcass is in fairly good condition so Department of Conservation staff are hoping to have it stuffed, to show people what the species looks like. The bat is so rare it was thought to be extinct in the 1930s. The last Tongariro sighting was in 1970. Ohakune field centre manager John Luff and officer Karen Hawke have been out in the field using a 'bat box', which converts the ultra sound, squeaks of the bat to a series of audible clicks. Miss Hawke said they have picked up bat sounds which should be from the long-tailed bat because they occurred just after dark, but that the flight paths indicated they could have been short-tailed bats which generally fly low to the ground. The short-tailed bat eats insects as well as the nectar of the rare and protected dactylanthus plant.