Which bat was tracked from Utah to Tennessee via Montana towers?
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Two new wildlife-tracking towers installed on public lands in central Montana are helping researchers uncover the long-distance migration patterns of bats and other flying wildlife.
The Bureau of Land Management and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks recently installed the towers in the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, including one in the Bullwhacker area and another near 8-Mile Bench.
The technology is already producing results. On Aug. 20, the Bullwhacker tower detected a northern hoary bat that had been tagged near Salt Lake City, Utah, on July 31. The same bat was later detected as far away as Memphis, Tennessee, on Sept. 7.
The towers are part of Montana FWP’s effort to establish a statewide network of 50 tracking stations through the international Motus Wildlife Tracking System…