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Myrna Attaway wrote:It is my understanding that europe doesnt have bats that hibernate in large colonys like all of our imperiled specis do. Of course we have endangered bats that dont. The point I was going to make is that our large colonies make it very obvious when there is a large die off. It may occur in europe and not be as obvious. Not likely but possible.
Historicaly when large populations have a disease that causes mass fatalities there is a small population that survives and repopuates the environment. With documented cases of this, it is very very premature to think about bringing in a substite species. Bats arent the only animals who fly at night and eat insects. Those species will fill the void left if the worst happens.
It is extremly unlikly that europen species would interbreed with the native ones.
By the way I have a Masters in biology.
caverdan wrote:Bringing in non native species doesn't sound like a good idea to me. Sounds like a good experiment for Plum Island, though.
I also believe that WNS....if and when it does raise it's ugly head out West....will come over the Great Lakes and down through Canada. Maybe we can mist net the border to keep them illegal aliens out.
Teresa wrote:What you propose is even worse than what has already happened.
European bats HAVE WNS. Why should be deliberately bring more of it here? That is argurably insane. If you fight fire with fire, sometimes all you get is a bigger fire.
Here is a partial list of foreign species importees with negative and unintended consequences. We've got enough problems, already.
Emerald Ashborer -- decimating American ash trees
Chestnut blight -- has already killed most American chestnut trees and their near relatives
African bees -- do xbreed, into "killer" bees
Chytrid fungus -- killing American frogs, salamanders, hellbenders, etc.
Japanese honeysuckle and kudzu -- choking American forests
Lespedeza
Cow Vetch
brush honeysuckle
Dutch Elm disease
multiflora rose
Asian Carp
Starlings
Mediterranean fruit flies
Japanese beetles
Gypsy moths
Grass carp
Cowbirds
house sparrows
Snakehead fish
Walking catfish
Burmese Pythons
mongeese and pigs in Hawaii
Russian boar
purple loosestrife
Chicory
Johnson grass
Nutria
European rats
Didymo and hundreds more.
Myrna Attaway wrote:Goshawks are birds that feed at night on insects. Several insectavorous species miagrate at night and feed on the fly.
Good points Teresa. Great list. Let us not even talk about cuban frogs, pigs, pythons etc or what invasive species have done to other countries.
BrianC wrote:Why did dinosaurs and many other creatures go extinct and not repopulate even though many creatures popular at a similar times have? Man wasn't here to spread the CO2 global warming scenario during those many events. Bats will survive if it is in their genes, and not if not.
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