Discover Great Basin Bats with Merlin Tuttle

ADDITIONAL VENUE DETAILS

6-days / 5-nights, including meals & lodging, in Baker NV

Inclusive Dates: Thursday thru Tuesday, 1 - 6 August 2024. Activities begin promptly at 1pm on Day 1 and will end by 10am on Day 6. 

Location and Directions:  Located in tiny Baker, Nevada near the Utah border, our activities will take place throughout the Snake Range of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest surrounded by the vast Great Basin Desert. Travel to this remote corner of Nevada is an effort, but absolutely worth it. Our field sites in and around Great Basin National Park represent the “best-kept secret bat hot-spot” in the west. Additionally, the area is certified by the International Dark Sky Association, as an official “Dark Sky Park,” making stargazing and other astronomical pursuits among the best in the world. We have secured commodious lodging at our headquarters, Hidden Canyon Retreat which is not only an excellent destination Lodge, but also boasts some great bat resources, right out the back door.

Airport(s): The most convenient airport is McCarran International in Las Vegas (LAS), which is about 300 miles (4-1/2 hours) by vehicle. Other airports include Cedar City Regional Airport in Utah (CDC – 150 miles; 2-1/2 hours), Salt Lake City International (SLC - 250 miles; 3-3/4 hours), and Reno-Tahoe International (RNO - 400 miles; 6 hours). NOTE: Students must make their own travel arrangements to Hidden Canyon. Nevada is on Pacific Time but nearby Utah is on Mountain Time, so students flying into and out of SLC must plan for the time-change accordingly. 

Lodging: 5-nights of lodging is provided at Hidden Canyon. Here 2 to 3 people will share a suite, where comfortable rooms with king or queen beds share a private bathroom and full kitchenette. All linens and towels are provided. Private-rooms and/or off-site lodging is not available at this venue due to the extremely remote location. WiFi is available, but 100% up-time is not guaranteed. Cell phone service is spotty and usually not available. A land line is available for emergencies.

Meals: 5 meals and 5 late-evening snacks are provided on-site during the week, beginning with dinner on Day 1. Vegetarian options are available with advance-notice (see student registration form for details on recording a food preferences). Because students will have their own kitchens, they are responsible for providing their own breakfast and/or snacks every day. Coffee and Tea supplies are provided in all rooms. Shopping in Baker or any nearby town, is very restricted, therefore students are encouraged to stock up as-needed before leaving a major city. Hidden Canyon maintains a small food store with basic staples: snacks, sweets, prepared food, grass-fed meat, beer and wine. 

Pre-course Preparation: There is no pre-requisite for this trip. The agenda, demonstrations, and field practicums are designed to provide a comprehensive overview of applied bat survey methods for the conservation and management of North American bat. This is a special bat natural history tour conducted in a relatively remote location. The elevation around Baker NV is over 4,000-feet and we have the opportunity to work at elevations from 5,000 to 10,000-feet, in habitats from high desert to alpine forests. Students must bring appropriate field gear including appropriate cool to cold-weather clothing and footwear for working outdoors including head-lamps and light sources for navigating at night, and basic personal items. 

A note about health and fitness requirements: All travel to field sites will be provided. Most sites are a short walk from a parking area, but participants should have moderate fitness levels allowing them to carry personal gear, over uneven terrain, at night, for distances in excess of 1 mile. Specifically: (1) we plan a 3-4 mile hike at elevations in excess of 10,000-feet that will bring us back to the vehicles well after dark; (2) our visit to Rose Guano Cave involves traversing a 2-mile long 4WD road that is not maintained for travel and we may have to get out and walk the final mile to the cave entrance, which is accessible by a 100-foot scramble up a nearly vertical rock face with the assistance of a hand-line secured by qualified cavers; (3) our trip into Lehman Cave will require participants to be underground at 52-degree temperatures with nearly 100% humidity for an hour or more, and though this is a commercial cave, regular crouching is required in some passages and others may present feelings of claustrophobia and unease. Anyone uneasy with any of these activities may elect to stay behind at Hidden Canyon, or in the field accompanied by one of the leaders

We will provide survey equipment for recording bats, but students are encouraged to bring their own bat detectors, if available. Leaders are available to help students troubleshoot equipment for successful field use.

No prior bat-work experience is necessary. There will be options to capture and hand-release bats during this course. Any participants wishing to handle bats must obtain the rabies pre-exposure vaccination. Those already vaccinated can provide acceptable titre results or proof of booster that has been completed within 2 years from the start of class. More information about the current CDC rabies pre-exposure vaccination process is available HERE. Approximately ten-days prior to the start of class, students will receive a complete list of what to bring and how to prepare, but feel free to contact us at any time if you have specific questions about the class. A sample agenda for this natural history trip is available for download HERE. 

How to Register: Please register by ordering online. NOTE: To register multiple people, please checkout each person individually so that we can obtain the proper contact information for each participant. Use the Student Registration Details link to provide complete student information for our records. If you prefer to pay by check, select Purchase Order at check-out and you will receive an Invoice with payment instructions.