Monty the Myotis is the new guy on campus

Photo courtesy Photopin

By Rachel Lynch

The Biology Lab on Campus has a handful of creatures including turtles, sugar gliders and snakes.  Recently they have added a little brown bat to their collection, at least for the winter.

Monty, the little brown bat, was found in a recycling bin in the history suite at Waldorf around Feb. 1. Dr. Paul Bartelt was responsible for getting the bat safely to the Biology lab where he would be under the care of  Alyse DeVries, the laboratory manager. DeVries, a Waldorf graduate, manages the student workers and also uses her background as a zookeeper to take care of the animals that are in the biology lab.

The bat has officially been named Monty the Myotis, Myotis coming from the genus name for the species. As of right now he is being kept in a mesh cage in a vacant room in the Biology department. He eats only insects, particularly flying ones. Luckily, the biology lab is currently working with fruit flies and have been able to use these as a food source for him. However, he is a wild animal and keeping him alive has been a challenge.

“He’s pooping, so he’s eating,” DeVries said. “He’s moving around. So that’s a good thing. We’re doing the best we can to keep him alive until spring.”

The hope is to keep Monty alive and well until it is warm enough and there are enough insects available to release him back into the wild.