Open Thread - Batshit Edition, Friday, May 6, 2016

I noticed some diaries and threads concerning concerning white nose fungus spreading into western states. The health of the world's bat population should be monitored closely. I think the health of bat populations is a microcosm of the human population. Bats very well could be the canary in the coal mine for human existence,

Bats are absolutely fascinating creatures, let's learn, or not, a little about bats and enjoy some funkin' John Scofield.

Chiroptera Bats

The clade Chiroptera includes two extant clades, Megachiroptera (Old World Fruit Bats) and Microchiroptera (echolocating bats). In addition, Chiroptera includes at least four extinct clades that are most closely related to Microchiroptera. There are over nine hundred extant species of bats (Koopman, 1993). Bats vary greatly in size. The smallest bat, Craseonycteris thonglongyai (Microchiroptera), weighs less than 2 g and has a wingspan of 12-13 cm, while the largest bats, those of the genus Pteropus (Megachiroptera), weigh up to 1.5 kg and may have a wing span over 2m (Fenton, 1992).

Bats are unique among mammals as they are the only group to have evolved true powered flight. Some other mammals such as "flying" squirrels and "flying" lemurs can glide through the air for long distances, but they are not capable of sustained flight. In contrast, bats can propel themselves with their wings, gaining and loosing altitude and flying for long periods.

Bats are nocturnal and usually spend the daylight hours roosting in caves, rock crevices, trees, or manmade structures such as houses and/or bridges. Some bats are solitary, while others are found in colonies that may include over a million individuals.

Activity begins around dusk, when bats leave the day roost and start feeding. The clade Chiroptera includes species with very diverse food preferences, including bats that eat either meat, insects, fish, fruit, nectar, or a variety of food types. Only three species of bats actually feed on blood Desmodontinae). Many bats remain at their feeding sites until just before dawn when they return to the day roost.

Overview of United States Bats

In the past, bats (order Chiroptera) have been one of the most feared and misunderstood creatures (fig. TS3D–1). Today, as researchers are beginning to unravel the secrets of the world’s only flying mammals, bats are declining worldwide. Misconceptions and folklore concerning bats have been passed along for generations, and unfortunately, this has led to the senseless killing of colonies of millions of bats, sometimes in a single destructive act. Most bats only produce one pup a year; therefore, recolonizing a decimated population and replenishing a once occupied cave may take decades. With thanks to extensive conservation and education, bats are making a comeback both in the United States and worldwide.

The diversity of bat species, the habitats they occupy, and their behavioral and social features are impressive (Fenton 1997). Occurring worldwide except for the Polar regions and a few isolated islands, there are more than a thousand known bat species, and this number continues to increase (Mickleburgh, Hutson, and Racey 2002; Engstrom and Reid 2003). Some species, such as Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis), undertake extensive seasonal migrations. Other species migrate for food, such as the long-nosed bats (Leptonycteris spp.) and the Mexican long-tongued bat (Choeronycteris mexicana), which are thought to travel along nectar corridors. Species such as endangered gray bats (Myotis grisescens) and Indiana bats (M. sodalis) migrate more locally between summer roosts and winter hibernacula. Elevational migration routes may also occur. They are thought to be a strategy of the spotted bat (Euderma maculatum), which lives in southwestern regions.

I love to teach children how to spot bats. It is actually quite easy to spot bats in the evening sky.

Bats Dying in Unprecedented Numbers

Bats get a bad rap on Halloween with their image synonymous with blood-sucking vampires; however, the real scary thing about bats is that they are disappearing due to a myriad of threats, including pesticides, habitat destruction and the horrible white-nose syndrome (WNS)—a disease caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus (Geomyces) destructans.

You didn't think I forgot the batshit, did you? Batshit has an image problem, it is actually wonderful stuff. There are few things better than bat guano for cultivating a fast growing annual. Insect eating bats produce a nitrogen rich guano that supports fast vegetative growth, while fruit bats produce a phosphorus rich guano that catalyzes plant blossoms and reproduction.

How To Use Bat Guano As A Fertilizer

Bat guano, or feces, has a long history of use as a soil enricher. It is obtained from only fruit and insect-feeding species. Bat dung makes an excellent fertilizer. It’s fast-acting, has little odor, and can be worked into the soil prior to planting or during active growth. Let’s learn more about how to use bat guano as a fertilizer. What Do They Use Bat Guano For? There are several uses for bat dung. It can be used as a soil conditioner, enriching the soil and improving drainage and texture. Bat guano is a suitable fertilizer for plants and lawns, making them healthy and green. It can be used as a natural fungicide and controls nematodes in the soil as well. In addition, bat guano makes an acceptable compost activator, speeding up the decomposition process.

Guano is big business.

The Guano Islands
Bird Turds and the Beginnings of U.S. Overseas Territories

In the mid-nineteenth century, explorers headed out to sea, hoping to claim new islands for the United States. One seemed promising: “These islands are small, high and rocky, barren and uninviting to the last degree, yet out of them has come wealth to stagger the dreams of oriental imagination.” 1 These islands held an extremely valuable resource. With high levels of both phosphorus and nitrogen, it was excellent for crops. In his 1850 State of the Union, President Millard Fillmore said this resource had “become so desirable an article to the agricultural interest of the United States that it is the duty of the Government to employ all the means properly in its power for the purpose of causing that article to be imported into the country at a reasonable price.” 2 This article would enable American farmers to produce on a larger scale, at a time when farming was undergoing vast changes as a result of the Industrial Revolution. This prized new resource was guano.

That’s right. American explorers were looking for islands filled with bird poop. They were not the first to think of using guano as a fertilizer. Guano had been harvested and used for centuries. In fact, the word “guano” comes from the Quichua language of the Inca Empire. It is most commonly found in islands in the Caribbean. The conditions in the islands near present-day Peru were perfect for forming large deposits of guano. A large sea bird population meant there was plenty of excrement settling on the ground. What really made the islands perfect, however, was the extreme dry heat. This enabled the guano to dry out and solidify—making it perfect for harvesting. For the Incans, guano was a highly prized fertilizer. Disturbing sea birds (and thereby disrupting the process of making guano) was punishable by death.

When guano imperialists ruled the earth

Because no day is complete without further investigation of fertilizer’s historic role in the evolution of the global economy, How the World Works intends to brighten your Friday with some deep thoughts on bird poop.

Specifically, Peruvian guano.

Glenn Davis Stone, a professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, whose fascinating work on the uptake of genetically modified cotton by Indian farmers has been featured here previously in “Ganesh and Brahma Bow to a New God” and “The Napster Pirates of Transgenic Biotech,” writes in to remind us of President Millard Fillmore’s State of the Union address in 1850.
Peruvian guano has become so desirable an article to the agricultural interest of the United States that it is the duty of the Government to employ all the means properly in its power for the purpose of causing that article to be imported into the country at a reasonable price.

From which followed the passage of the Guano Islands Act, which authorized U.S. imperialist expansion in search of guano.

You can't make this shit up. Have a great funkin' weekend.

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progdog's picture

Damn do I love Captain America.

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prog - weirdo | dog - woof

NCTim's picture

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

riverlover's picture

That map of WNS locales confirms my observation (and reporting to Ministries) of my first likely sufferer in Spring, 2007, over the St Lawrence river. One bat, daytime flying, early spring, being mobbed by birds. Not looking good. Other earlier times, terrified observers would probably think Rabies. Up there, I have no idea where the winter hibernaculae are. I assume old salt mines or granite quarries. I know not to ask.

Hibernaculum is such a nice word, a nice winter palace to rest the night(s) away, until it isn't. And now with fewer bats, more mosquitoes, with their hitch-along viral diseases. Oopsie!

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

NCTim's picture

It is interesting how the points on the map outline the Appalachian ridges. I assume it is because of the preponderance of habitat.

Have a funky good weekend.

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

Martha Pearce-Smith's picture

or Not To Leap

From:The Agenda with Steve Paikin
About this Video
Air Date: May 04, 2016
Length: 33:54
Available Until: Jan 06, 2099

In the midst of the 2015 federal election campaign, left-wing activists gathered to launch their own call for transformational change with a document called the Leap Manifesto. It lays out a vision of the future to protect the earth from global warming and create equality among people. Documentary filmmaker Avi Lewis co-authored the Leap Manifesto with his wife, activist and author Naomi Klein. He joins The Agenda for a deeper look at the controversial document.

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First Nations News

NCTim's picture

Change is going to have to be catalyzed by the people. The ruling class is mostly a bunch of grifters and bullies out to take care of only themselves.

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

Martha Pearce-Smith's picture

Yeah, and I think we are just starting to see it.

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First Nations News

NCTim's picture

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

Gerrit's picture

for this eye-opener on the dangerous state of bat populations and their importance to ecosystems.

If it's Friday, there will be this:

Have a great day today,

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Resilience: practical action to improve things we can control.
3D+: developing language for postmodern spirituality.

NCTim's picture

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

(and note, this map is from winter 2014-15)
wns_map_01-23-15.jpg

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

NCTim's picture

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

martianexpatriate's picture

but with the Republicans running about I think we might have an overabundance. The bat version sounds valuable though.

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NCTim's picture

Carries too many human pathogens.

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

riverlover's picture

Too many human pathogens. Although now fruit bats are probably shitting SARS and Ebola. We could care less about most non-human pathogens. Until it's your rose getting killed no problemo.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

hecate's picture

makes people crazy.

Peru and Chile fought together against Spain in a war over guano. Then, when that was over, Peru and Chile, they fought a war against each other. Over guano.

Then there's Colonel Bat Guano, of the true-life documentary film Dr. Strangelove.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUAK7t3Lf8s]

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NCTim's picture

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -

Big Brother is Watching

A newly published study from Oxford’s Jon Penney provides empirical evidence for a key argument long made by privacy advocates: that the mere existence of a surveillance state breeds fear and conformity and stifles free expression. Reporting on the study, the Washington Post this morning described this phenomenon: “If we think that authorities are watching our online actions, we might stop visiting certain websites or not say certain things just to avoid seeming suspicious.”

The new study documents how, in the wake of the 2013 Snowden revelations (of which 87 percent of Americans were aware), there was “a 20 percent decline in page views on Wikipedia articles related to terrorism, including those that mentioned ‘al Qaeda,’ ‘car bomb’ or ‘Taliban.'” People were afraid to read articles about those topics because of fear that doing so would bring them under a cloud of suspicion. The dangers of that dynamic were expressed well by Penney: “If people are spooked or deterred from learning about important policy matters like terrorism and national security, this is a real threat to proper democratic debate.”

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mimi's picture

the online surveillance FBI-NSA-Next Click Informant-state is way more dangerous than the ordinary, old-fashioned real space police state. It kills its citizens softly and bloodlessly through mind manipulation and outsources the killing to the citizens themselves. I expect lots of deteriorating mental health induced suicides just by the fact that life online is addictive and fear and self-censoring and self-denial inducing.

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mimi's picture

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mimi's picture

to learn that the shit of bats is not batshit crazy stuff. My next pet might be a bat... no shit. Smile

That's a great essay on bats. And I needed funky music with that too. Thanks.

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elenacarlena's picture

"Bat guano... you can't make this shit up." I see what you did there.

Well, you can if you're a bat, apparently.

We have them around here (Lexington, KY). You can see them overhead and hear them squeaking in the evening. I tried to get photos, but my uncomplicated point and shoot was no match for bat speed.

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

This won't end well. Or even end

If Isis and al-Nusra are defeated, what will be the impact on the political geography of this part of the Middle East? Sunni Arabs in Iraq make up 20 per cent and in Syria 60 per cent of the population but there is really only one battlefield, so, if the salafi-jihadis lose, so too will the Sunni Arabs as a whole in the band of territory between the Iranian border and the Mediterranean. “In Iraq the war is destroying the Sunni population,” says Professor Joshua Landis who heads the Centre for Middle East Studies at Oklahoma University, pointing out that most of those displaced in the fighting in Iraq over the last two years are Sunni Arabs and the Sunni had already been driven out of much of Baghdad in the sectarian slaughter of 2006-7. A prolonged struggle for Mosul would reduce the last great Sunni stronghold in the country to ruins. “We Sunni in Iraq are going to end up like the Palestinians,” predicted a Sunni Arab from Ramadi last year before the city was partly destroyed.
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riverlover's picture

Over here. Crazy times.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Very classy

Russia has made its mark on Syria with the crash of bombs and the thud of artillery. On Thursday the Russians added gentler sounds: live classical music echoing through an ancient stone theater and into the eerie, empty desert.

Extending its soft power into the Syrian conflict, Russia deployed a symphony orchestra led by one of its best-known conductors, Valery Gergiev, and the cellist Sergei P. Roldugin, an old and — according to the Panama Papers documents leaked last month — very wealthy friend of President Vladimir V. Putin.

Their performance space was Palmyra, the city of ruins left by Roman and other ancient civilizations and ruined further by the depredations of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

The orchestra played pieces by Johan Sebastian Bach and two Russian composers, Sergei Prokofiev and Rodion Shchedrin, in a second-century Roman amphitheater, the set for a 2015 film produced by the Islamic State that featured the execution of 25 people.

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hecate's picture

fun poll.

The chief reason people will vote for The Mad Bomber: to prevent The Hairball from becoming the president.

The chief reason people will vote for The Hairball: to prevent The Mad Bomber from becoming the president.

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enhydra lutris's picture

handle it, do not do so. This is especially true in the daytime. Call the nearest animal control or wildlife rehab agency (or both) instead.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

NCTim's picture

Maybe even hypersonic, humans only.

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The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -