feeling a little batty

What is it about being told 'no' that makes us suddenly desperate to something we hadn't thought about in months, maybe years? Its been months since I've been caving (not so long since I've thought about going though) but upon hearing of the sudden moratorium of all underground activity from Maine to Tennessee, something in me rises up and thinks its my job to go hollar crawlin'. The cause is totally understandable though. Its to save the bats from an uncontrollable, unknown infection commonly known as white-nose syndrome. Its been spreading like wildfire in a parched land of timber and has killed an astronomical number of friendly cave-dwellers. Bats get a bad rep but I plead with you to consider how much of a blessing they are! Ever been annoyed by a mosquito or worse yet, scratching a bloody bite by one days after the fact? yeah, bats EAT mosquitos. Bats are like rock in rocks, paper scissors, or Mario in Mario Cart. And I've had one fall on my back while caving as I accidently brushed up against it. I didn't grow fangs, lose my eyeballs or get rabies. Poor little guy was more upset about being displaced than I was about having a blind little bat on my back --not to say I particularly enjoyed the piggybacking but all things considered, it freaked out more than I did. (This one got off better than one ill-fated bat squashed by Mr. Brown's bum during a high school excursion... hahah! RIP little brown bat).

Conclusion of this report: white mysterious fungus is bad, bats are good.