Each summer, Craig Stihler and Jack Wallace, scientists for the state of West Virginia hike to Peacock Cave to count Virginia big-eared bats. . They want to see if the number of bats is going up or down.
I was there to learn about the bats for my book. After we arrived at the small entrance to Peacock Cave, Craig and Jack unpacked their equipment. Crale said, " .Hibernating (冬眠)bats may be awakened and fly around and burn up the fat they've stored in their bodies. Without that food supply, they might not live until spring when they can eat insects again. And bat mothers may drop their babies. "
As night settled in，they set up a night-vision scope (观察仪器）. .They also set up a radio-like bat detector outside the cave. It picks up bat sounds that our ears can't hear. For the next two hours, Craig counted the bats by speaking into a handheld voice recorder each time five bats flew out of the cave. By the time the last bat left the cave at about 10:30 p. m., Craig and Jack had counted 1,242 bats! .Craig explained that when the first count was taken at Peacock Cave in 1983, there were only 160 Virginia big-eared bats. Projects to help protect bats have helped the bats make a remarkable comeback. Today the total number of Virginia big-eared bats there are more than 25,000.
.They will continue to need human's help if they are going to survive into the future.
A. Why do they do so?
B. It allows them to see the bats in darkness.
C. Virginia big-eared bats are medium-sized.
D. Bats are important because they eat insects.
E. They want to catch some bats for their research.
F. Bats living in caves can suffer if disturbed by people.
G. That was the most Craig and Jack had ever counted there.
