Population sampling.....or something.

I'm reading "The Moon: A Biography" by David Whitehouse. Pretty good
book. The timing couldn't be more fortuitous.....full moon (or very
close to it) tonight. Reminded me that I haven't looked at the moon
through my spotting scope for quite some time. So, I got it out on the
front stoop and focused in.

Took a few seconds to focus and let my eye adjust to the change in
light intensity and was just starting to spot a few familiar landmarks
when something zoomed across the face of the moon. Cool, I thought, a
bird. And then another one went by. Wow. A couple more flew by in
the next minute or so.....higher up.....took longer to make the
transit. Not birds. Bats! Twenty minutes, twenty bats.

Hm......

I don't recall how many minutes (degrees?) of arc the moon covers in
the sky (haven't run across it in this book), but it's a very small
piece of the whole. Seems to me that there must be an awful lot of
bats up there (and most of them very high, judging by their apparent
size in the scope for me to see that many in that short a time.

Anyone here know how to extract any useful information from this?

Wolfgang

Wolfgang

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm reading "The Moon: A Biography" by David Whitehouse. Pretty good
book. The timing couldn't be more fortuitous.....full moon (or very
close to it) tonight. Reminded me that I haven't looked at the moon
through my spotting scope for quite some time. So, I got it out on the
front stoop and focused in.

Took a few seconds to focus and let my eye adjust to the change in
light intensity and was just starting to spot a few familiar landmarks
when something zoomed across the face of the moon. Cool, I thought, a
bird. And then another one went by. Wow. A couple more flew by in
the next minute or so.....higher up.....took longer to make the
transit. Not birds. Bats! Twenty minutes, twenty bats.

Hm......

I don't recall how many minutes (degrees?) of arc the moon covers in
the sky (haven't run across it in this book), but it's a very small
piece of the whole. Seems to me that there must be an awful lot of
bats up there (and most of them very high, judging by their apparent
size in the scope for me to see that many in that short a time.

Anyone here know how to extract any useful information from this?

Wolfgang

Wolfgang


I'd try something big and fluffy like a mosquito or bumblebee pattern....

john

Cool.

For the 'or something' there's one you can check out up in da Youper
that I found on the Web.

n the upper peninsula of Michigan, there are strange lights knows as
the "Paulding Lights." They are located in the forest between where
Paulding and Waters meet, down a strange old road called Robins Pond.
The lights appear on most clear summer nights and are most often red
yellow and white. The lights do not appear if there are many people.
The lights also seem to be alive. They know when someone is
approaching and they back up just slightly out of reach. One theory I
have heard is that they are faeries that live in the forest - some of
the last faeries in the world. Another theory is the UFO theory. And
the third is that there is some strange portal to the spirit world in
the woods of the upper peninsula. Whatever the case, the Paulding
lights are definitely worth a visit.
--

r.bc: vixen
Speaker to squirrels, willow watcher, etc..
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless. Really.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm reading "The Moon: A Biography" by David Whitehouse. Pretty good
book. The timing couldn't be more fortuitous.....full moon (or very
close to it) tonight. Reminded me that I haven't looked at the moon
through my spotting scope for quite some time. So, I got it out on the
front stoop and focused in.

Took a few seconds to focus and let my eye adjust to the change in
light intensity and was just starting to spot a few familiar landmarks
when something zoomed across the face of the moon. Cool, I thought, a
bird. And then another one went by. Wow. A couple more flew by in
the next minute or so.....higher up.....took longer to make the
transit. Not birds. Bats! Twenty minutes, twenty bats.

Hm......

I don't recall how many minutes (degrees?) of arc the moon covers in
the sky (haven't run across it in this book), but it's a very small
piece of the whole. Seems to me that there must be an awful lot of
bats up there (and most of them very high, judging by their apparent
size in the scope for me to see that many in that short a time.

Anyone here know how to extract any useful information from this?

Wolfgang

Interesting. The moon covers 1/32400 of the sky. Beyond that, I'm not sure
what to do with the info. My instinct tells me that there could be
kabillions, or even gazillions. Certainly scads.

--riverman

Wolfgang typed:
I'm reading "The Moon: A Biography" by David Whitehouse. Pretty good
book. The timing couldn't be more fortuitous.....full moon (or very
close to it) tonight. Reminded me that I haven't looked at the moon
through my spotting scope for quite some time. So, I got it out on
the front stoop and focused in.

Took a few seconds to focus and let my eye adjust to the change in
light intensity and was just starting to spot a few familiar landmarks
when something zoomed across the face of the moon. Cool, I thought, a
bird. And then another one went by. Wow. A couple more flew by in
the next minute or so.....higher up.....took longer to make the
transit. Not birds. Bats! Twenty minutes, twenty bats.

Hm......

I don't recall how many minutes (degrees?) of arc the moon covers in
the sky (haven't run across it in this book), but it's a very small
piece of the whole. Seems to me that there must be an awful lot of
bats up there (and most of them very high, judging by their apparent
size in the scope for me to see that many in that short a time.

Anyone here know how to extract any useful information from this?

Yes. You saw all of them - there were only twenty.
--
HTH,
Tim
-------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

"Tim J." wrote in message
...
Wolfgang typed:
I'm reading "The Moon: A Biography" by David Whitehouse. Pretty good
book. The timing couldn't be more fortuitous.....full moon (or very
close to it) tonight. Reminded me that I haven't looked at the moon
through my spotting scope for quite some time. So, I got it out on
the front stoop and focused in.

Took a few seconds to focus and let my eye adjust to the change in
light intensity and was just starting to spot a few familiar landmarks
when something zoomed across the face of the moon. Cool, I thought, a
bird. And then another one went by. Wow. A couple more flew by in
the next minute or so.....higher up.....took longer to make the
transit. Not birds. Bats! Twenty minutes, twenty bats.

Hm......

I don't recall how many minutes (degrees?) of arc the moon covers in
the sky (haven't run across it in this book), but it's a very small
piece of the whole. Seems to me that there must be an awful lot of
bats up there (and most of them very high, judging by their apparent
size in the scope for me to see that many in that short a time.

Anyone here know how to extract any useful information from this?

Yes. You saw all of them - there were only twenty.

Naw, just one flying in circles.


--
Bob La Londe
Fishing Arizona & The Colorado River
Fishing Forums & Contests
http://www.YumaBassMan.com



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
.. .

"Tim J." wrote in message
...
Wolfgang typed:
I'm reading "The Moon: A Biography" by David Whitehouse. Pretty good
book. The timing couldn't be more fortuitous.....full moon (or very
close to it) tonight. Reminded me that I haven't looked at the moon
through my spotting scope for quite some time. So, I got it out on
the front stoop and focused in.

Took a few seconds to focus and let my eye adjust to the change in
light intensity and was just starting to spot a few familiar landmarks
when something zoomed across the face of the moon. Cool, I thought, a
bird. And then another one went by. Wow. A couple more flew by in
the next minute or so.....higher up.....took longer to make the
transit. Not birds. Bats! Twenty minutes, twenty bats.

Hm......

I don't recall how many minutes (degrees?) of arc the moon covers in
the sky (haven't run across it in this book), but it's a very small
piece of the whole. Seems to me that there must be an awful lot of
bats up there (and most of them very high, judging by their apparent
size in the scope for me to see that many in that short a time.

Anyone here know how to extract any useful information from this?

Yes. You saw all of them - there were only twenty.

Naw, just one flying in circles.


--
Bob La Londe
Fishing Arizona & The Colorado River
Fishing Forums & Contests
http://www.YumaBassMan.com

Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com


Man, all this talk about moonbats, I was curious and had to look it up:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=moonbat
-tom

On 6 Sep 2006 19:15:38 -0700, "Wolfgang" wrote:



I don't recall how many minutes (degrees?) of arc the moon covers in
the sky (haven't run across it in this book), but it's a very small
piece of the whole. Seems to me that there must be an awful lot of
bats up there (and most of them very high, judging by their apparent
size in the scope for me to see that many in that short a time.

Anyone here know how to extract any useful information from this?

Probably a lot of bats following a really big lot of insects. You know
how they fly to lights? They didn't develop that after humanity
discovered artificial light. Some insects have probably always flown
at the moon (or in that general direction) as some part of their
instinctive drives. I'd guess mating drives. High flyers being
desired as the best of their gender by the opposite gender.

Whatever makes the insects go, will make the bats follow.

Or, there could be a cave or bat house or abandoned building nearby
enough that the live in so that when they fly from their day time
home, they go over / past your house and you generally don't know
they're there.
--

r.bc: vixen
Speaker to squirrels, willow watcher, etc..
Often taunted by trout. Almost entirely harmless. Really.

http://www.visi.com/~cyli