Windmills Posing A Threat to Bats
In a previous post I pointed out how windmills were killing Golden Eagles and other migratory birds. However the story does not end there. Most birds fly during daylight hours, but there is one creature that flies during the night. Bats, a nocturnal flying mammal, are now at risk of death by none other than wind mills.
The United States Geographical Survey (USGS) is now reporting that dead bats are being found dead under the windmills. Bat deaths have now been reported not only in America, but at other wind mill farms around the globe. One particular species, the Indiana Bat which is endangered now has to negotiate dark skies with large metal blades cutting through the air to generate electrical power.
Several species of bats are already declining in numbers. Here in Connecticut and New York and other areas as well, bats have been battling White Nose Syndrome. This is a poorly understood fungal disease that has already killed 5.5 Million bats and has been found throughout the Northeastern United States and south to North Carolina. So far White Nose Syndrome has been found in over 115 caves and mines where bats hibernate for the winter.
So what do we end up with? Windmills generating electrical power by wind during the day kill birds of prey. Windmills at night killing bats. So when do we really make wind power a real economical choice for electrical power?
You can read the USGS report by following this link:
http://www.fort.usgs.gov/batswindmills/
You can read more on Indiana’s Wind Mills here :
http://tribune-democrat.com/local/x345569257/Windmills-to-shut-at-night-following-demise-of-rare-bat
And you can find out more about White Nose Syndrome here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_nose_syndrome
Writers Note: I am big fan of bats. They play a vital role in the ecology. They pollinate flowers, they eat insects including mosquitos, and are in general harmless. Although the fear of one flying into your hair and getting tangled is nothing more than an old wives tale, they can at times carry RABIES; a virus that attacks the the CNS and other body organs. Bats over all infection rate for rabies is somewhere around 1% and it depends on the species of bat. These are wonderful creatures, and fun to watch on a summers eve.
5 Comments
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It is unfortunate and sad that birds and flying mammals are killed at windmill sites. Seems like the bats are not killed by hitting the blades, but by the pressure gradient near the blades. At the same time water birds and other sea life are killed by oil spills. What to do, what to do…back to candles?
Oil spills are not the norm , spinning blades of death are.
Gimmie a break,a few bats mean nothing to anyone with any sense.
I bought my oldest daughter a shirt in Boothbay Harbor, ME back when she was a toddler…And it was because of that shirt that she has been a lover of bats her whole life.? It was bright and graphic and the message on it was “BATS ARE GOOD GUYS!!!”? She used to go around telling anyone who would listen that “bats are good guys…don’t be afraid of them!”? Then she’d list the reasons we need them.
I really have to believe that wind power will eventually blow itself out due to the negatives outweighing the positives.? Our government peeps can’t be stupid enough to force a losing proposition, can they?
“When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles.”? (like eagles & bats)
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Bats are important pollinators in the southeast. Their greatest contribution of to eat tons of flying bugs, many of which are destructive to crops. Bats are important.
The main point about windmills and wind turbine-type technologies is that they were “sold” to the public, namely environmentalists, as benign ways to generate electrical power. They are not. In their operations, they are killing various bird species and now bats. The Energy Department is turning the blind eye to these illegal killings and giving a lip service tut-tut. Yet, the endangered bird and bat bodies are stacking up.All the while, the Obama Regime will quickly litigate any oilman found to have one dead endangered bird on his property for whatever reason.