October already?

Time flies. I had even drafted a few posts that didn't make the final cut... so now I'll just leave a quick note about just how important bats are. In the last two years, I picked up more than my fair share of dead bats under wind turbines - never a Gray Bat (Myotis grisescens), because they're not in the area - but here's an awesome link for Endangered Ugly Things that highlights sensitive cave creatures and their ecosystems.

Here's one of my sad little friends, a Hoary Bat:


Your discussion questions for the Endangered Ugly Things article:
* Why does a bat-poop eating* blind cave fish matter to you?
* Perhaps, why does it NOT matter to you?
* Have we become so species-centric that our insulated bubbles that keep the rest of the world out have become the only things we care for?
* Why have nature in the back yard when you can see better footage of it on cable shows?

The fish don't directly eat bat poop, but for our purposes, it's a compelling question. Also, think about the species-specific feather mites and lice that endangered or extinct birds have... or had. They're gone, too.


EDIT: This post has been getting a ton of hits lately with no comments, many hits from the UK - is there a wind farm being planned or something? Surely the tags of "poop" and "wind farm" aren't responsible for all of the traffic! Let me know if there's anything relevant that I need to address!

Also food for thought: if mold was never investigated for penicillin, where would we be today? Hence, it's in our best interest to not wipe out species... we just never know, do we?