This talk has had to be postponed to a later date – various permits and equipment required will not be available until later, and Dr Cole has also had to make changes to his scedule.  Watch this space for a new date.

Elusive secrets about the life of bats will be revealed by Dr Roger Coles from the School of Earth, Environmental and Biological Sciences at QUT.

The life of these animals is cryptic and shrouded in mystery. They are the only mammals capable of true flight – a shared ability that has evolved completely differently from birds.
 

Dr Coles will explain the prowess of ‘microbats’ at flying, navigating and catching prey in the dark using a precision, radar-like method called echolocation. He will demonstrate how the local forest bats do it and in real time, by tuning in to bats flying around the MCCG Cottage during the talk with the use of fancy electronics and colourful computer screens. As we cannot normally see or hear these small creatures hunting in the dark, some of their secrets can be revealed by using electronic ‘bat detectors’ and night vision scopes to make their sensory world audible and visible to us. Methods used to catch bats will be demonstrated as well.

When: TBA