It appears

That I have some very good, encouraging news!

I spend A LOT of time on the southwest corner of the P~pad in the screened in deck, summer kitchen. It’s a stellar vantage for many things ranging from flowers, trees, hummingbirds and beyond. I’ve recently been hearing little crunchy things falling onto the roofing, a rigid clear plastic. I didn’t think my house was shedding, thought maybe it was stuff coming down from the trees, insects dropping things…It hasn’t been of concern, just noticing, paying attention.

It’s my Monday, I’m hanging out collecting myself, making a list of projects and prioritizing, I looked up and noticed the aforementioned gravity influenced crumbles on the roofing.

It immediately reminded me of something, and I hurriedly lurched to an inference, exploding with excitement. Looks to me like guano, yes, bat turds!

Why, you might ponder, would that elicit such an uncommon reaction?

A decade or something ago, a fungal infection swept through the brown bat population. The fungus itself wasn’t fatal, it bloomed on their little piggie shnozes. It looked weird, and had an unfortunate effect. The nasal bloom apparently and not surprisingly, made their noses itch. What began to happen was while they were hibernating, those sensations kept waking them, depleting their energy stores, killing them in droves over the longterm.

As a bat lover, I like many, was devastated, saddened, at a loss for the implications and ramifications of the intricate and complex web of life. I have heard that the populations have slowly been bouncing back, albeit slowly. A momma brown bay has one pup a year. ONE! So to ponder how long it takes for a colony to grow, it’s almost horrific considering the loss of the population. Bats have been vilified and one of many true unsung heroes of biodiversity.

Alas, we humans observe, study, learn, but control very little IF ANYTHING regarding the web of life.

Thus, my utter glee to have slowly cascading turd crumbles scattering along the pitch of my roof. Note the bat houses in the second picture, and particularly, the one at the top of the gable. It’s DIRECTLY above the spot when the scat is being deposited!!!

It appears that I have welcome inhabitants, that the brown bat population is on the rise, right here at the P~pad! Such awe have I for the majesty of Earth, nature, biodiversity and the power and mystery of life force