More bats! The NY Times brings us the story of this nectar-eating bat from Ecuador. The 2-inch long bat has a tongue 3.3 inches long! This is proportionally the longest tongue of any mammal and the second-longest (behind the chameleon) of any vertebrate. This bat keeps the tongue in its chest – it is anchored …
New Orleans Writers
A friend from Idaho asked me this week, “What’s the deal with New Orleans? We get conflicting reports up here.” I told him what I could, which isn’t much, since we get conflicting reports down here in Baton Rouge, just an hour away. I posted earlier on some of the Crescent City’s musicians here and …
Reid is Moving
I wanted to make a public announcement about something I’ve told a few privately. Connie and I have accepted transfers from our current employer and will be moving to work at their Denver, Colorado office. Our move will most likely take place in January, but timing will be conditioned by the move-in date of the …
Whale Vomit
I had to post this one just so I could use the title. It’s actually an interesting story from the NY Times on what is thought to be a piece of ambergris found on a beach in the eastern US. With the general demise of whaling, this story points out that it is difficult to …
Gnatcatchers
Despite environmental gloom and doom, sometimes things do get better. The LA Times brings us the story of habitat restoration resulting in the rebound of endangered Gnatcatcher populations in the affluent LA suburbs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
Yet More Neanderthal News
We’ve had quite a few posts on the explosion of new findings on Neaderthals lately, and I thought I’d bring these two to your attention. One claims to have proof that Neanderthals engaged in cannibalism. The other presents the theory that Neanderthal women and children took part in hunting, and that there perhaps was not …
Airport Bats
Connie and I were trudging through the Phoenix airport week before last, when I was amazed at this sight on the wall of one of the concourse stores. A whole roost of bat sculptures. These fruit bats are made of rusted steel and I was told the artist is a gentleman named Henri Dupree who …
Podcast with Darren Naish
Fans of Dr. Darren Naish and his frequently-highlighted blog Tetrapod Zoology will enjoy hearing him “in person,” in a podcast interview by George Kenny of Electric Politics. Beyond the nature of the topics discussed (origin of dogs, Bigfoot, being a “famous scientist”), I was fascinated simply to experience the podcast itself. Here blogging and broadcasting …
Once more around the web
Still busy, but reading… Terrierman shows us that despite hysteria, Lyme disease is hard to catch. Gun Nut Dave Petzal reminds us that “outmoded” equipment often– isn’t. Good firearms and optics should outlive their owner– I shoot one shotgun made in the (18)70’s. Has Hell frozen over? Peter Singer gives support to animal medical experimentation! …
Terrierman on Condors
Patrick Burns gives us his thoughts on California condor conservation and species loss. This post sort of got kicked off by an e-mail discussion that he, Steve, and I had about a lawsuit in California that seeks a ban on lead bullets. The plaintiffs maintain that many condors die after feeding on the carcasses of …