Bats and What You Should Share With Others

Pallid Bat

It is the time of year where bats come into the spotlight. Unfortunately there are a lot, and I mean a lot, misconceptions. I thought I'd take this opportunity to share information with you that you can pass on. All of these pictures are from my bat internship in Mesa Verde. Please do not copy them without giving credit (some of these are attributed to Ryan Choi).

1. Bats are not blind. Mega-bats (fruit bats and flying foxes), rely on their eyesight all of the time. Micro-bats (what we have in the U.S.) have small eyes that they use when they are not echo-locating.

Little Brown Bat

2. Most bats do not have rabies. It is estimated that 0.5% of all bats carry rabies. And when they have rabies they die soon after. However, never ever handle a bat with your bare hands. If you think you or somebody else has been bit, go to the doctor immediately. In the U.S. there is no reason to die. Once you start exhibiting symptoms there is no cure. The biggest spreader of rabies in the world are dogs.

Spotted Bat (or Skull Bat)

3. Bats don't need your hair, they just don't care. Their echo-location is so good that they can identify a single hair strand.

Hoary Bat

4. Bats are major contributors to the economy. They are very important pollinators (think bees). Without them we wouldn't have bananas, avocado, cashews, mangos, figs, almonds, and many others. Without bats we would not have tequila. Bacardi Rum is one of the biggest funders of bat conservation, because they are solely dependent on bats to pollinate sugar cane.

5. Bats eat a lot of insects. The average bat consumes half of their body weight in insects a night! That means they help control mosquito populations, as well as other crop pests. If bat populations seriously declined we would have a very obvious problem. You never notice how important bats are until they disappear.

Mexican Free-tailed Bat

6. All of the bats in the U.S. are small. From the tip of their nose to the tip of their tale, is about 6 inches. And the wingspan is 13 inches. And that is a larger species.

7. Bats are not flying rodents. They are closer related to humans, than to bats.

Yuma Myotis

8. A bat is a relatively clean animal. They take care of themselves. Their wings feel the same as a your eyelid.

Long-eared Myotis

9. Bats are the second most diverse group of mammals. About 20% of mammals are bats.

10. The bones that support the a bat's wing are their finger bones. Literally, their fingers have evolved to become long bones.

11. Vampire bats are real, but they do not live in the U.S. They are small, and drink blood like a mosquito. They take a sip and move on. They primarily enjoy livestock - not people.

Silver-haired Bat

12. Bats live up to about 20 years in the wild. That is a long time. They have 1-2 babies every year. Bats in captivity sometimes die of cancer. The oldest known bat lived to be 41 years old.

13. Bats live all over the world, except in the Arctic and Antarctic.

14. Since bat species are so diverse, there is a lot of variation in diet. There are species that eat insects, blood, nectar, fruit, fish (they go fishin'), frogs, rodents, lizards, birds, and even other bats.

Big Brown Bat

15. Some bats roost alone, and others roost in groups of up to 20 million (Texas).

16. White-nose syndrome is very quickly wiping out one of the most common species of bat (the Little Brown Bat) in the U.S. It is a serious problem.

Fringed Myotis

17. The largest bat in the world is the Malaysian flying fox in Asia. It has a wingspan of 6 feet. The smallest known bat in the world is the bumblebee bat - and it weighs the same amount as a dime.

18. About half of the worlds bats (out of 1,118 species) are threatened or endangered, because people mistakenly view them as pests.

Townsend's Big-eared Bat

19. If bats get into your attic, have them removed ethically. If you block all of the holes you may still have a problem. Bats leave their babies behind during the night, so may cause a serious situation where you have lots of concerned mother bats desperately trying to get to their babies. This could result in bats in your house, or a lot of stinky dead baby bats in your attic.

Long-legged Myotis

So go out there and spread the word! Bats have very little interaction with humans, but we rely on them. And they are very sensitive to our actions. Most of those species are threatened or endangered due to human causes. Since bats are not the most charismatic mammals, research for conservation issues is woefully lacking. Bring it up at your next Trick or Drink party! And if you have any questions about bats, feel free to ask!

For more information:

Bat Conservation International

Organization for Bat Conservation

Lubee Bat Conservancy

North American Society for Bat Research

Colorado Bat Society

Speleobooks

Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa & a Costco Intervention

Dad - your family is about to hold an intervention in your honor. Your one-gallon jars of pickles are driving your wife crazy (as if she could get any worse), and in turn she is driving your family crazy. You are addicted - to Costco. It's ok, we understand. The sexy girl behind the counter convinced you to upgrade your membership and now you have to spend more money. Those bags of tortillas are just too good of a deal to pass up. I realize that the 25 pounds of rice you have in your basement will never go bad. And I know you have room in your house for all of the "goodies." But you buy soup that mom never eats and that she suspects you never eat either. Don't get me wrong, I love coming to your house and stocking my own pantry with beans and crackers. But this has to stop. I suggest you wean yourself off. Maybe only buy pickles once you are completely out? Would that be too much to ask? Your neurotic wife can't handle it. Please, for those you love, curb your desire.

Recently I went to my parents house and my mom was complaining. In a moment of defiance she was about to throw away a perfectly good large bag of quinoa that had been sitting in the cupboard for a year (according to her). So I rescued it. I have never made quinoa before, but I couldn't stand seeing it go to waste. This recipe is light and refreshing. It is versatile. You can make it as a side or as a stand alone dish (for a light meal). It is perfect for taking to work for lunch.

Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa

2 cups dried quinoa (place in a rice cooker as if it were rice)

4 tsp lime zest

4 tbsp lime juice

6 tbsp evoo

2 tsp sugar

2 15 oz cans of drained, rinsed black beans

4 chopped tomatoes

5 green onions, chopped

1/2 cup of chopped cilantro

A couple handfuls of baby greens

Cook quinoa according to directions. In a bowl mix lime zest, lime juice, evoo, and sugar. Mix all of the remaining ingredients (including quinoa) in a bowl. Serve hot or cold (I prefer hot)

Reminiscing about Curried Spiced Lentils and Spinach while in Estes Park

I can honestly say I wish I was eating curried lentils right now, because it would warm me up. I'm in Estes Park, CO on ^%$#*Corps retreat at the YMCA of the Rockies. Basically all of the ^%$#*Corps folks in Colorado meet once a year to cuddle and pat each other on the back. It is a bittersweet experience.

Pros:

1. I find mountains very sexy. And therefore Estes Park has to be one of the sexiest places on earth.
2. I've seen about ten elk so far - hurrah!
3. I do not have to sit in an office all day and I get out of the house.
4. Breathing the lovely mountain air (I'm having a hard time coming up with pros).

Cons:

1. The food is terrible! It is pretty sad when they can make tofu look better than chicken (to a carnivore).
2. It is snowing and I have large holes in my shoes, so it's pretty, but pretty damn cold.
3. I have to share my room with a mystery roommate. A bad meet-n-greet I can't escape.
4. The evening's activities include: a hot chocolate bar, karaoke, roller skating (yes, you read that correctly), a talent show, and a movie. I'm sorry, are we 12? So lame.
5. My room has neither a coffee maker nor a t.v. Thank god I brought my friend DELL.
6. I can't put my frozen toes on my personal space heater (Gas Monkey), who just had surgery and still "needs" me.

I found this curried spiced lentils and spinach recipe on this lovely blog. I wasn't too impressed with the look of it (I believe my exact words to Gas Monkey as I plopped it in front of him were, "Don't worry, a deer did not just shit on your plate.") But the flavor is perfect for this curry novice, because there is only a hint. It is also easy to make. My only problem with the recipe was that the amount of broth did not cover the lentils, so I had to add a lot more and cook it on high for 2 hours longer. Next time I will make sure I add plenty of broth to it originally, enough to cover all of the lentils. That being said, I love this dish. And it makes great leftovers.

Curried Spiced Lentils and Spinach

• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 2 large green onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
• 1/4 cup uncooked brown rice
• 4-oz package chopped fresh spinach
• Enough vegetable broth to cover mixture
• salt to taste (after cooking)

Place all of the ingredients in a crockpot and let it cook on low for 6 hours. Let me know how it turns out! (I served it on a pita with tomatoes and mint).

Pot Luck Sundays - Chili

Sorry I've been out of commission. Gas Monkey had surgery on his femur last week, which pretty much eliminates all cooking desire

I love using other people's recipes, and someday they will love using mine. This week the theme is chili (for obvious reasons). If you have a favorite chili recipe share it with others by adding your blog entry here. (Click the "click to enter" button)

Life Altering Pumpkin Cookies - Guest Writer Spanky Bottoms

I woke up to gorgeous bright sunshine and biting cold wind. It was official. Autumn had truly arrived. After a rather unsatisfying, dull breakfast of scrambled eggs I began to imagine what a wholly satisfying and delicately savory meal would taste like. Pumpkin immediately popped into my head and my salivary glands kicked into overdrive.

Yum! To me pumpkin is the quintessential fall food. When I get into these bake or die moods there is only one person I turn to: Martha Stewart. I quickly grabbed my cookbooks and looked up the recipes for pumpkin cookies and pumpkin bread. As my dog stood staring at me with a goofy grin that can only mean one thing, play with me, I Googled a recipe for pumpkin dog treats as well.

A whirlwind pumpkin baking marathon was about to begin! I started with the dog treats, followed them up with pumpkin bread, and ended with the pièce de résistance, pumpkin cookies. Oh, how I do love cookies. Combine the cookie with Martha’s talent and delicious pumpkin and you get one fantastically amazing cookie.

These cookies are so soft they melt in your mouth. Piped delicately from a pastry bag, one feels truly accomplished in the world of chefdom. Add an icing with a little something special and you have this cookie. The best parts about this cookie: 1) Small, light, and thin so a handful only really feels like one or two big cookies. 2) The recipe makes six dozen iced terribly tender cookies so transporting them can be tricky, which means more for you. 3) Pumpkin is healthy, therefore cookies made with pumpkin are healthy too! 4) They will change your life.

Martha Stewart’s Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing

FOR THE COOKIES 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar 2 large eggs 1 1/2 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (14 ounces) 3/4 cup evaporated milk 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract FOR THE ICING 4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon evaporated milk, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Make cookies: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.
2. Put butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low. Add pumpkin, evaporated milk, and vanilla; mix until well blended, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture; mix until combined.
3. Transfer 1 1/2 cups batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tip (such as Ateco #806). Pipe 1 1/2-inch rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 1 inch apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until tops spring back, about 12 minutes. Cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely.

Make icing: Put confectioners' sugar in a large bowl; set aside. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, swirling pan occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Immediately add butter to confectioners' sugar, scraping any browned bits from sides and bottom of pan. Add evaporated milk and vanilla; stir until smooth. Spread about 1 teaspoon icing onto each cookie. If icing stiffens, stir in more evaporated milk, a little at a time. Cookies can be stored in single layers in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

Italian Zucchini Black Bean Burgers and Gas Monkey's Carnivorous Dad

A few weeks ago Gas Monkey and I had dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery. This is one of our favorite restaurants (even though it is a chain), because their beer is delicious. The Little Italy Chicken sandwich I enjoyed inspired me to make this black bean burger with an Italian twist.

Italian Zucchini Black Bean Burgers

- 16 oz of drained black beans

- 1/2 cup of shredded zucchini, with as much water squeezed out as physically possible

- 1 green onion, finely chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1 egg white

- 1/4 cup of finely chopped basil

- 1 tsp dried oregano

- 1/3 cup of Italian bread crumbs

- 1/2 tsp sage

- 1/2 tsp thyme

- 1/2 tsp onion powder

- 1/4 tsp kosher salt

- 1/4 tsp black pepper

- Spinach

- Fresh mozzarella

- Pesto

- 4 buns (makes four small burgers, or three large burgers)

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the first 13 ingredients. Mash and mash until the beans have been broken up. Form patties, making special effort to smash the ingredients together. Beware: bean burgers are not meat, and if they are too moist they can fall apart.
2. I try to cook these on a George Foreman, because there is no flipping involved, and therefore no breaking apart. You could also cook in a pan. Cook until heated all the way through.
   
3. Before taking burgers off of the grill, add the mozzarella. Once the mozzarella has melted, remove burgers and put on bun.
4. Dress with tomatoes, spinach, and spread the pesto on the bun. Serve and enjoy.

Can you imagine the look on Gas Monkey's face the first time I served him a bean burger? He looked at it like it was some sort of cruel punishment. Gas Monkey is from Wyoming and Montana - arguably the biggest meat states in the country. Real men eat meat. Gas Monkey's dad is a contractor and builds beautiful log cabins, so Gas Monkey was raised on a construction site. Not only was he a carnivore, but being a carnivore was his heritage.

When Gas Monkey was in college, his parents unfortunately split. Being a poor college student (and a boy) his culinary skills were pretty much limited to pasta (he skills have now expanded to grilling). One day he went to his dad's house, and being the good son that he is, made dinner. He knew that his dad was working hard and would like to come home to a home-cooked meal. So what did Gas Monkey make? Pasta of course! Good ol' spaghetti. Gas Monkey spent time lovingly making a warm meal for his dad. When his dad came home from work, Gas Monkey proudly put a plate of spaghetti with marinara sauce in front of him, eagerly awaiting oohs and ahhs. His dad's immediate response, "Where's the meat?" The man had never heard of such sacrilege as spaghetti with no meat. In other words, no black bean burgers for the future father-in-law.

Chili Cook-Off: Trial Batch 1 and More Help Needed

I did not take pictures last night, but I spent a few hours making my first experimental batch of pork red chili. I slow roasted a pork shoulder during the day and then added it to my chili. For being completely self-invented, I thought it tasted pretty good. Unfortunately my palatte is not mature enough to be confident that it was really good.

Here's my new problem. I think that it is a very balanced chili - no one flavor or ingredient stands out more than another. I think that may be the way to go. Gas Monkey believes that since each person is only going to taste 1-2 spoonfuls, it needs to have something that jumps out at the taster. So he thinks I should emphasize a particular ingredient.

Please help! Which way to go? A well-balanced chili that is delicious the whole bowl through but may not catch your attention after only one bite, or a chili that is striking and interesting in the first couple of bites but in the end you may not want to eat more than one bowl? Advice please!

Help Needed: Chili Cook-Off Advice

I need advice from my more-experienced following. Gas Monkey recently entered me into a chili cook-off at his work. I did not grow up eating chili and the only chili I have made is a basic Rachel Ray recipe. If I'm going to compete I want to do it right. So I'm going to make one or two practice batches beforehand and invent my own recipe.

I want to do a pork chili with tomatoes and other secret ingredients. I have to enter one of the following categories: red chili, green chili or other (chili con carne, vegetarian, white bean, etc). I originally thought it would be a red chili (because I fully anticipate it being red in color). But then I see that con carne is a separate thing, so now I'm confused. Which category do I enter?

Another question - bean or no beans? I have always had beans in my chili; I can't imagine chili without beans. But some people have very strong opinions about this. What if I used just a few beans?

Also, any advice from your own family recipes? This is really my first experiment in inventing my own recipe and trying it out on strangers. I'm both excited and nervous. Grand prize is $50! It is the big time! (By the way, as an Americorps*VISTA I am supposed to live solely of the minimal stipend the government gives me - purposely to keep me at poverty level so I can appreciate the people I work for. Therefore I am not allowed to make or accept any money. So either I will refuse the winnings or Gas Monkey will win them since we're entered under his name).

Gas Monkey's Cheesy Gift: Grilled Tomato and Cheese Sandwich

A few weeks ago Gas Monkey drove all the way from Colorado to Wisconsin for his friend's wedding. He spent an entire week sleeping on the beach and doing his groomsman duties (sounds like a chore doesn't it?). Anyway, the day he was driving back I received a phone call.

"Honey I got you a surprise. It's nothing big," he says to me, practically cooing. In the background I hear his friend say, "It's pretty cheesy." I roll my eyes - Gas Monkey can be very cheesy.


This is not one of my shining moments. What kind of cheesy gift could Gas Monkey possibly be bringing me from Wisconsin? I was stumped. Can you guess? I'll give you a clue - Wisconsin is known for what dairy product?


Gas Monkey walks into the house and plops a bag on the counter. In it are four kinds of CHEESE! Duh!


I live in Colorado. I like cheese, all cheese, but I am just as happy with Kraft cheddar as I am with gourmet cheddar. Or so I thought until I made grilled cheese with fresh Wisconsin cheese. I have two strong opinions about grilled cheese. #1 - It is impossible to screw it up unless you burn it. #2 - It is almost impossible to make it amazing. It is what it is. Plain ol' good. But this became a legendary grilled cheese sandwich.

A Cheesy Grilled Cheese and Tomato Sandwich

• 1 layer of Applejack Cheese
• 1 layer of Buttercream Swiss
• A little bit of Sharp Cheddar
• 2-3 garden tomato slices
• 2 pieces of bread

Curious where Gas Monkey got his cheese? Driving back he ran into the Mousehouse Cheeshaus. Let's just say it drew their attention.

Zucchini Bread Oatmeal and an Excuse for Never Raking the Leaves

When Gas Monkey wakes up on the weekend, he wants breakfast. After sleeping-in his gut instinct is to spend two hours making a morning "man-meal" of eggs, meat, hash browns, and pancakes. For me that is too much food, fat, and effort in the late morning. Instead I found this excellent oatmeal recipe. Gas Monkey looked at it with skepticism (vegetables in his oatmeal, that can't be good), but the man can't refuse food. It has a lot of flavor.

Zucchini Bread Oatmeal (for two)

2 3/4 cups of water

Pinch of Kosher Salt

1 1/2 cups traditional oats

1/8 cup of Brown Sugar

1 tbsp Peanut Butter

2/3 cup of finely grated zucchini

1/4 cup of pecan halves - roughly chopped

2 pinches of nutmeg

Follow directions for cooking oats and then add ingredients. Cook a little longer. Serve!

It's October and by far my favorite time of the year. I am hoping that my zucchini plant will stop producing soon, because I just can't keep up. The newly changing leaves remind me that it is almost raking season. So I'm being proactive and getting my excuse to avoid raking out of the way.

Almost everybody has a leaf story. In the 5th grade, my friend J and I would go to her house and rake up a big pile of leaves. What do normal children do with a pile of leaves? Jump in it! That is NOT what we did. J's gerbil had recently had somewhere near 12 babies. They were in the cute mini-stage, and we loved to play with them. I'm sure you see no connection between baby gerbils and leaf piles. Let me help you. Brilliantly, we came up with the idea of playing hide and seek. We created a pile of leaves and gave each person a basket. We then hid all of the babies in the leaf pile. Then, on the count of ten, we raced to find and capture the most babies. This was infinitely more fun for us than the gerbils. Do you really think this story has a happy ending? After the last round we counted them up. One was missing. We looked through until we found him. Poor gerbil. The game had a high mortality.

That was my first experience with death. It did not affect me much, because we went inside and watched "Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen." But that is my excuse for never raking leaves again. I'm still slightly traumatized. You hear that Gas Monkey? Traumatized!

I dedicate this blog to Raunchy Rhonda who was gave me crap for not "inspiring" her with the Green Monster post.