Get Batty on Halloween

Halloween and bats go together like trick and treat. Bats are a Halloween icon because they’re scary, creepy and dangerous, right? Wrong!

“It’s time people learned the facts about bats,” said Ryan Jacobus, age 14, who has studied bats extensively with scientists in his adopted homeland of Costa Rica. Jacobus moved from Wisconsin to the Central American country with his family four years ago to learn Spanish and spend extensive time exploring the natural world. “Bats are cool because they help the environment. People need to know how important these creatures are so they can help protect them.”

To raise the public’s “bat”ting average and help dispel fears and myths about this flying mammal, Jacobus created an entertaining, educational video segment based on his experiences studying bats in the Costa Rican rain forest. The video airs on the web show Super Natural Adventures, which Jacobus hosts with his two brothers, Michael, age 12, and Will, age 11. http://www.supernaturaladventures.com/ www.supernaturaladventures.com

Jacobus explains why bats are environmental heroes. “The main services bats provide include eating thousands of mosquitoes a night, per bat; pollinating many plants, such as avocados; and replanting forests by dispersing seeds,” he said.

Myths dispelled in the Super Natural Adventures bat webisode include:

--Myth: Bats suck blood. Fact: Only 1% of all bats drink blood and it’s livestock they are after, not humans.

--Myth: Bats will fly into your hair. Fact: Bats have a highly developed system of echolocation that helps them avoid large, dense objects, like humans.

--Myth: Bats are blind. Fact: Bats can see. But echolocation is much more precise and thus how bats most navigate.

--Myth: All bats carry rabies. Fact: While all mammals have the possibility of contracting rabies, the most common animals that carry it are skunks, raccoons, foxes, and coyotes.

Super Natural Adventures is the premier web show about nature and the environment. It airs at www.supernaturaladventures.com and features webisodes on such topics as “Where Chocolate Comes From,” “Making Recycled Paper” and “What is a Rain Forest?” A new webisode premieres each month.

350 Day!

Today is International Day of Climate Action, promoted by 350.org, whose mission is to inspire the world to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis—to create a new sense of urgency and of possibility for our planet.

Today people in 181 countries are coming together for the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet's history. At over 5200 events around the world. people are gathering to call for strong action and bold leadership on the climate crisis.

We began our celebration today by joining about 30 students, teachers and parents who gathered this morning to clear land on school property to create a vegetable garden. Led by two dedicated permaculturists from the organization Huertas Donde Sea!! our group toiled hard for four hours under the tropical sun, swinging pick axes, working shovels to dig up grass, using the wheel barrel to cart it away.

Yes, it could have been done faster by a small group of adults using machinery (and some adults thought that might have been a good idea), but that would have missed the point. Creating a garden isn't something to get done quickly, with as little work as possible, so you can check it off your list.

Creating a garden is about communing with the Earth. Touching it is a good place to start! Planting a garden, in the manner of permaculture, is also about creating community. A small group of adults doing it all with machines would have totally missed the greater purpose. And moments of clarity like this one, from a seventh grade boy as he dug in the dirt:

"I am suddenly remembering that I used to garden with my grandmother when I was little. I loved that time with her and with the earth. Now I spend most of my free time watching TV or playing soccer. I'm glad I came today. Can I come next week?"

For more information on climate change and the international day of action, visit 350.org For a cool video on climate change check this out.

World Rain Forest Week

Next week (October 12-18) is World Rain Forest Week.

View the newest Super Natural Adventures webisode, "Rain Forest Exploration." www.supernaturaladventures.com and take a virtual trip to this precious world resource with SNA host Will Jacobus and his 4th grade classmates.

You'll learn what makes a rain forest and why they are important to the world, meet some rain forest animals and plants, and find out what is threatening our globe's rain forests. Entertaining, educational and fun, all in one. Enjoy!