Here is a headline and opening of a story sure to scare the crap out of Oklahomans:
"Deadly bat disease is spreading west; White-nose syndrome was discovered last month in Oklahoma."
What? Is this "bat disease" just a euphemism for club kids with a nose candy addiction? But wait, the June Los Angeles Times report continues:
"A disease killing more than 1 million with a mortality rate close to 100 percent continues to sweep across the country. First detected in New York in 2006, it is now found in 14 states in the East and South, leaving starvation and death in its wake, and is working its way westward."
Egads! Grab your MREs and water bottles, the incoming plague is coming for us! So, one question: Will it turn us into bats and then kill us, or will the mutant bats descend on the city like we're the chicken fingers section at the local gluttony trough?
"This disease affects not people but hibernating bats."
Whew, spared. But it's not looking so good for our bat friends.
"Since it first appeared in a cave near Albany, N.Y., four years ago, more than 1 million bats have died, and its reach now extends northward to Ontario, Canada, and southward to Tennessee," reported the L.A. Times.
"The discovery in Oklahoma is particularly worrisome because the bats there share caves with Mexican bats that migrate to and from Argentina. If the Mexican bats come in contact with the fungus, they could spread it widely."
How would you like to read that bit of news first thing in the morning? Not exactly uplifting.
According to the LA Times story, the diseased bats are expected to make it all the way to California before scientists figure out how to solve the problem.
Well, it looks like Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, may have a campaign issue after all. The Anti-Mexican Bat Immigration Bill should soon make its way to a legislative committee near you.
