Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Ought to rename it
A map showing the spread of white-nose disease among bats tells a story with remarkable clarity. The fungus-based disease was first seen in New York, and then it spread in several directions from NY. For once the "scientists" aren't blaming Evil KKKarbon, but humans are unquestionably the culprit.
What grabbed my attention on the map was one solitary county in Oklahoma. Woodward County. I know the place; back in my idiot hippieshit days I went on several spelunking expeditions to the Glass Mountains. Lots of caves there, with lots of bats.
The disease pattern makes no sense by natural geography. Normally a fungus would be carried by the wind, but the wind doesn't blow from New York southwestward along the Appalachian Trail. The wind emphatically doesn't blow from the Appalachians to Oklahoma. Never. What does move in those directions? Spelunkers.
Thus the map shows where people like to explore caves. Should rename the disease "Spelunker Syndrome."
Labels: Heimatkunde
¶ 2:53 AM
