werainey wrote:
> Altamont is notable for raptor kills, particularly golden eagles, but th=
ere is a high level of
> concern among scientists and some wildlife managers about mortality of m=
igrating bats
> with the extensive turbine buildout proposed in many areas, rapidly incre=
asing rotor
> diameter and rotor swept area. The wakeup call came from large kills of s=
everal species at
> a new installation on an Appalachian forested ridgetop in West Virginia, =
but there have
> been more recent similar surprises from the Canadian plains. Limited samp=
ling has shown
> some bat kill in the Montezuma Hills.
>
>
For what it's worth, some years ago I was attempting to record meteors
by radio at VLF/ELF frequencies on a bluff near Los Alamos, New Mexico.
The bluff overlooked a canyon that must have had a lot of bat caves. I
discovered that whenever I turned on my handheld receiver ( a McGreevy
WR4) the bats would dive toward me frenetically.
I don't know if the VLF/ELF receiver jammed the bats own frequencies?,
unnerved them? or attracted them? I myself got the message quickly to
shut down my receiver.
Maybe some sort of electrical force field could be projected around the
turbine zone to divert the migrating bats from blade dangers.
Thomas Ashcraft
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