Sept 18, 2009: Water Scooper
 

This has been a bad year for wildfires, not only in the US, but around the world.
In tough economic times, governments are strapped for resources to fight these fires.
Most have decided to concentrate their efforts on the areas of human habitation.
In the remote areas, that leaves Bambi and associates to fend for themselves.

Here's a picture of one of the aerial tankers scooping up a load.

http://cellar.org/2009/batdrink.jpg

Link

That reminds me - it is the mother-in-laws birthday soon.

Not much meat on those so you'll need several for a serving. Good job making the photos, though.

Oh what a marvellous picture!

I do like bats. Always have. Fascinating creatures.

Photo op of a lifetime. Talk about shutter speed!

They taste like chicken when you fry them up nice. Their little bones makes them "extra crunchy"

Is Nancy Pelosi fighting the California fires?

and where's the follow up picture of the "dump"?

No. It's eyes are open.

Bats don't eat enough flies.

Thanks UT. I figured they used flashes and breaking a beam to trigger everything. But didn't know how they knew where to aim the camera. I guess stringing those strings all over the place forces the bats into the only free area in front of the camera.

I love bats too. I love how to the human eye they just look like a piece of unravelling shammy leather lobbed randomly through the air, but slowed down footage reveals their incredibly precise aeronautical navigation.

Once you've seen a bat flight you can never mistake them for anything else.

We used to live down a road where we had more passing horses than cars. We were across from a gorgeous old vicarage with extensive grounds, and a church complete with graveyard. We'd watch the bats all summer, they came out when the swallows and swifts clocked off. And then we'd have a glass of wine in the cooling summer evening and listen out for owls and foxes. Magical times.

"How do you like your bat, Dusty?"

And now for lunch
 

While you may remember that I don't have all that much of a fondness for insects (especially caterpillars) I really don't mind crickets and grasshoppers all that much. But when this sort of thing happens, I just GOTTA root for the mammal. I mean, this is just so damn cool. Go bat! I just wish I had some sauce to offer you, fellow warmblood. On second look, that may be a roach?


http://home.honolulu.hawaii.edu/~pine/images/Bat.jpg