Almost every day, the ridiculo-meter pegs over at Joe Romm’s place. But today is special. He neuters his own headline in the very first paragraph. I just had to share the laughs.
Yes, the vampire bats are coming to get us thanks to climate change, or maybe not.
…
“Biologists are paying attention to the warming climate and what potential impacts that could bring, including non-native wildlife, but this is not something that will likely happen within the next few years,” Peterson said.
Oh thank heavens. It would be a tragedy if the climate change caused vampire bats to team up with the killer bees in Texas.
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Yah dam right. They’ll be moving south in the next few years due to climate changes. The world has stopped warming and shows a slight cooling. Let’s hope it doesn’t accelerate. 😉
When I see bats, I now think of Gleick sitting in a bat cave, writing his strategy paper,poising his PDF skills.
Oh, I forgot, here are some more alarmist stories tailored for the general public. Her you will find ‘bats decline’ and ‘rabid bats’ as well as ‘cougar attacks’ caused by Global Warming.
http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm
Typo:
HerE you will find
There’s no doubt about it, AGW leads to inter species breeding.
Anybody who thought that ManBearPig was a problem is going to be horrified when the KillerVampBeeBat is let loose on the populace.
I’m running for the hills!
Heh, Joe B speaks the truth!
And as an Aggie, I’m embarrassed about North and Dessler.
The largest mammal colony in the entire world is the Mexican free-tailed bat colony in Bracken cave on the north side of San Antonio.
The only solution is to build a line of wind turbines along the border
And some in the general population believe this? Sure as heck doesn’t say much for our “education” system. Notice he doesn’t mention that “killer” bees are here because some guys in Brazil screwed up,and let some of their “studies” loose??? All I know is that moonbats are FAR more dangerous the vampire bats.
Steve C says:
March 27, 2012 at 1:47 am
There’s a modest, but important, place in history for the first person to work out how to train vampire bats (or any other flying creature) how to identify and bring down the snooping surveillance drones currently being developed and deployed by authoritarian governments around the world. Those are the only flying things we should be worrying about.
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The Mexican fruit bat would be a better choice. They are much bigger and if the specimen I spent “Quality Time” with is any indication, very curious. I was <a ref="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prusik"<prusiking out of a deep pit cave in Mexico and the critter hovered about a meter from my face for about an hour. I am sure that little guy could be taught to hunt like a hawk.
As a native Texan I can tell you we have had blood-sucking creatures in Austin in the halls of Congress for years…nothing new here.
At least now I can justify all those hours watching vampire movies learning how to protect myself from them. Seems it wasn’t a waste of time after all.
“A feared and foreign species…”?
That is the kind of blathering jingoism that keeps me from reading Climate Progress on a regular basis. Doesn’t Mr. Romm realize that vampire bats are merely doing the jobs that American bats won’t?
A pox on his house; preferably a moist and tropical pox which chooses English as a second language.
My bat population has been decimated here in NE Oregon due to several cold, late Springs in a row causing decreasing insect emergence date and number. If Texas is getting warmer, send some of that warmth up our way.
I would think publicly funded climate scientists would have a natural affinity for vampire bats. Both seek to suck the life blood from other animals in order to ensure their own survival.
In general invasive species are going to move northward for two completely unrelated reasons:
(1) South is where the species are. Warmer places have more critters.
(2) Most human migrants move from South to North (e.g. Mexico to US, Algeria to France), carrying critters with them. Why do humans migrate? Because North is where the jobs are.
It would not be proper to mention the Killer Bees without this:
Enjoy! RIP John B. We miss ya!
bwanajohn says:
March 27, 2012 at 5:52 am
As a native Texan I can tell you we have had blood-sucking creatures in Austin in the halls of Congress for years…nothing new here.
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You are insulting the bats.
Nosferatu the Vampire
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9Jf8U2wvNw&w=405&h=320]
Wassat you say? Rabid bees? Where? Is their honey safe to eat? Think of the children!
Calm thyselves… pace Groucho, fruit bats like Henry Waxman; wombats like Julia Gillard; but moonbats like watermelons. As curator of pink grapefruit, radishes, indeed also watermelons, we nominate “Spiketail Joe” Romm for Fledermaus-in-Chief. Take it away, Joe!
I’m amazed that the Zombie Apocalypse is not announced yet. Global Warming…
Gail,
Totally understand your love of these critters. When I was a kid, my grandfather somehow befriended a tiny bat and it used to come around evenings to hang off our fingers and suck on warmed milk from a cloth handkerchief or a sponge. When it had its fill, it wouldn’t just rudely split, but would either “hang around” or wobble about the garden table, checking out stuff, watching us with curiosity as we talked to it, and if I remember right, it used to perk up to its name. Polite little bugger and cuter than a kitten.
You’ve probably seen this, but just in case you haven’t: http://www.ohmyweird.com/2007/11/23/adorable-baby-bats/ …it’s the second pic in the page.
Anyway, I think old Joe is a chiroptophobiac. Something to enter into our Evil Denialist Super-Secret Super-Computer; could come in handy one day.
We got vampire politicians who are already bats. I am under-impressed.
Peter Kovachev says:
March 27, 2012 at 2:23 pm
Gail,
Totally understand your love of these critters…..just in case you haven’t: http://www.ohmyweird.com/2007/11/23/adorable-baby-bats/ …it’s the second pic in the page.
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Thanks for the link. They are so cute. The only reason most cavers I knew did not have bats as pet is because of rabies. They really are amazing little critters. I have seen a couple hang around an outdoor party and stuff themselves with the bugs attracted to the lights and “food on sneakers”
With White nose disease wiping out much of our population Bat house – CLEAN bat houses – are very important for keeping insects in check.
Vampire bats are terribly streotyped animals. They have to drink blood to survive, just like we have to eat things like cows to survive. They drink as little as a tablespoon of blood per victim and the prey rarely ever knows it’s happeninng. Please, don’t stereotype these beautiful creatures. They deserve a chance just like you and me.