Bats Dying in the Wind (Turbines)

It happens time and time again, we come up with a fantastic new technology that will be the solution to many if not all of our problems only to find out that it brings a problem that we were not aware of before. Such is the case with wind turbines. Turns out they are only environmentally awesome and good for the planet if you hate Bats.

Scientists have discovered that wind farms and wind power generating wind turbines are killing bats. It isn’t the obvious thought of, if bat is stupid enough to fly into a spinning blade… see bats detect the propellers just like they detect anything else using ‘echolocation,’ the bats are not actually flying into the propellers, simply by flying too close to them. It turns out that wind-turbine blades create an atmospheric-pressure drop around themselves. This is causing the bats to die of internal hemorrhaging due to barotrauma when they get too close. The bats are unable to see these low pressure pockets any more then we would be able to see a temperature change in the water at the lake.

Image from Gizmodo.com

Turns out that the respiratory systems of bats are more like other mammals, being balloon like with two directional airflow and a pair of thing flexible sacs surrounded by capillaries. When the pressure drops suddenly the sacs (lungs) over expand and often times burst. Bird lungs are much more rigid and therefore able to handle pressure changes much more easily.

The implications are a little frightening when you think about it… as wind power expands in popularity so too could the miquito population, more and more of them don’t get eaten by bats. There are a whole bunch of reasons we don’t want that not least of all the irritation factor and the spread of blood borne pathogens.

Scientists say that there is no obvious way to reduce the pressure drop at wind turbines without reducing their use and effectiveness.

Sustainability -1, Bats -1.  

via Why Wind Turbines Can Mean Death For Bats

Also Why Are Wind Turbines Killing Alberta’s Bats

Bobcats, not your usual neighbors

Just don't accept an invitation to dinner

“They are great neighbors, and as long as they don’t want to baby-sit my kids, it’s not a problem.” s

In Lake Elsinore a family of bobcats took up residence in the back yard of a foreclosed house for a week or so. It seems that the felines decided to move themselves into the back yard of the house perhaps using it to keep an eye on their own offspring much like the other parents in the neighbourhood were doing upon learning of their arrival. Some neighbours are nervous, some are pretty happy with the sudden reduction of the rabbit population, but most didn’t feel too threatened by the cats who for the most part just lounged around on the top of a wall while people snapped photos of them. Though it appears that there is only this one photo lying around the Internet at the moment. If anyone from the neighbourhood reads this and would like to send us some more we would be eternally grateful.

While it is just as easy to come home and find a bobcat in your yard when you still live in your house, the residence of these cats in a foreclosed suburban home can make you think about just how quickly the animal kingdom would be willing to move in if we pesky humans aren’t around.

Seen In the City Photo Series

Photo 1.1 Mr Groundhog

* As another ongoing series we are launching the Seen In The City Photo Series here at Urban Neighbourhood. To keep it simple we will just be posting the photo with a caption. Enjoy!