texascavers Digest 1 Oct 2010 16:35:14 -0000 Issue 1160
Topics (messages 16192 through 16208):
Re: Way off topic - but of interest to REAL explorers
16192 by: Josh Rubinstein
16193 by: speleosteele.tx.rr.com
off topic: ant books
16194 by: Mixon Bill
16196 by: tbsamsel.verizon.net
E. O. Wilson at Trinity University
16195 by: caverarch.aol.com
FYI --- Petition Filed to Protect Rare Texas Salamanders From Austin Water
Project
16197 by: Jim Kennedy
Posting Caver Portraits
16198 by: speleosteele.tx.rr.com
16199 by: germanyj.aol.com
Re: Interior institutes scientific integrity policy
16200 by: Louise Power
Re: Rappel off a building for charity
16201 by: Joe Ranzau
16202 by: Emily McGowan
Youtube Video of the Day
16203 by: David
National Geographic - Naica Cave program and videos :
16204 by: JerryAtkin.aol.com
New Guinea people shots from a '75 caving trip
16205 by: Frank Binney
bats in the news
16206 by: David
Casa Aquismon
16207 by: Mike Walsh
Shooting on Mex side of Falcon Lake
16208 by: Louise Power
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--- Begin Message ---
For those interested in ants and those who want to see a true American hero,
E. O. Wilson is speaking at Trinity University in San Antonio on Monday 26
Oct.
www.trinity.edu/departments/public_relations/news_releases/100818fall_lectures.htm
Josh
On Wed, Sep 29, 2010 at 7:50 PM, <dirt...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> Way off topic - but of interest to REAL explorers.
>
>
>
> You and I, pushing the limits of knowledge and personal experience in a
> dark place where no else (or few, or many) others have gone before - we are
> (whether we admit it or not) true scientists. AND explorers. John
> Wessley Powell going down the Grand Canyon in our own way------
>
>
>
> We believe that universe has order, reason, and that if we can find how to
> get there, there is an acceptable chance that we can find our way back out.
>
>
>
> In 1973, a junior high school student was on his knees in an
> abandoned vacant lot, watching millions of billions of one of our smallest
> creatures go about their business.
>
>
>
> Read about it. There is a lot here, not explicitly stated, which speaks
> to our own drives and lives.
>
>
>
> Well written, too.
>
>
>
> You may have to get your local library to fetch it from interlibrary loan.
>
>
>
> Mark W. Moffett
>
>
>
> Adventures Among Ants: A Global Safari With a Cast of Trillions. 2010. Univ
> Cal Press.
>
> Printed in China (OF COURSE!!)
>
>
>
> Also Required Read: Ogden Nash: "The Ant"
>
>
>
> As a close friend once said: "LOOK OUT BELOW!!"
>
>
>
> DirtDoc
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Dr. E.O. Wilson, the father of biodiversity. I call him the "rock star of
scientists."
Diana Tomchick and I met him and heard him speak in NYC a couple of years ago.
We sought
out a bookstore in Manhattan prior to The Explorers Club Annual Dinner in the
Waldorf
Astoria, where he was the keynote speaker, so Diana could have one of Wilson's
book in
her hand when she met him for him to sign. The plan worked perfectly.
Bill Steele
---- Josh Rubinstein <kars...@gmail.com> wrote:
> For those interested in ants and those who want to see a true American hero,
> E. O. Wilson is speaking at Trinity University in San Antonio on Monday 26
> Oct.
> www.trinity.edu/departments/public_relations/news_releases/100818fall_lectures.htm
>
> Josh
>
> On Wed, Sep 29, 2010 at 7:50 PM, <dirt...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> >
> > Way off topic - but of interest to REAL explorers.
> >
> >
> >
> > You and I, pushing the limits of knowledge and personal experience in a
> > dark place where no else (or few, or many) others have gone before - we are
> > (whether we admit it or not) true scientists. AND explorers. John
> > Wessley Powell going down the Grand Canyon in our own way------
> >
> >
> >
> > We believe that universe has order, reason, and that if we can find how to
> > get there, there is an acceptable chance that we can find our way back out.
> >
> >
> >
> > In 1973, a junior high school student was on his knees in an
> > abandoned vacant lot, watching millions of billions of one of our smallest
> > creatures go about their business.
> >
> >
> >
> > Read about it. There is a lot here, not explicitly stated, which speaks
> > to our own drives and lives.
> >
> >
> >
> > Well written, too.
> >
> >
> >
> > You may have to get your local library to fetch it from interlibrary loan.
> >
> >
> >
> > Mark W. Moffett
> >
> >
> >
> > Adventures Among Ants: A Global Safari With a Cast of Trillions. 2010. Univ
> > Cal Press.
> >
> > Printed in China (OF COURSE!!)
> >
> >
> >
> > Also Required Read: Ogden Nash: "The Ant"
> >
> >
> >
> > As a close friend once said: "LOOK OUT BELOW!!"
> >
> >
> >
> > DirtDoc
> >
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
E. O. Wilson's major 1990 monograph on ants never came out in
paperback, and even renting the right to read it on a Kindle would
cost you $94. (Whom are they trying to fool?) But a more reasonably
priced, semi-technical recent book on ants co-authored by Wilson is
"Journey to the Ants, a Story of Scientific Exploration." $16.66
paperback from Amazon. Recommended. In the first chapter, it is
estimated that the total number of ants on earth is about ten thousand
trillion, with a total weight comparable to the total weight of
people.--Mixon
----------------------------------------
A chicken is the egg's way of making another egg.
----------------------------------------
You may "reply" to the address this message
came from, but for long-term use, save:
Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu
AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org or sa...@amcs-pubs.org
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Lest we forget: Leiningen versus the Ants by Carl Stephenson
E. O. Wilson's major 1990 monograph on ants never came out in
paperback, and even renting the right to read it on a Kindle would
cost you $94. (Whom are they trying to fool?) But a more reasonably
priced, semi-technical recent book on ants co-authored by Wilson is
"Journey to the Ants, a Story of Scientific Exploration." $16.66
paperback from Amazon. Recommended. In the first chapter, it is
estimated that the total number of ants on earth is about ten thousand
trillion, with a total weight comparable to the total weight of
people.--Mixon
----------------------------------------
A chicken is the egg's way of making another egg.
----------------------------------------
You may "reply" to the address this message
came from, but for long-term use, save:
Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu
AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org or sa...@amcs-pubs.org
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--- Begin Message ---
Wow, Josh, thanks for posting that. I've always wanted to see him speak, but
even more so after I learned that he and Tom Barr used to go caving regularly
in Alabama (principally for biological collection purposes, but I think he
enjoyed it, too) when they were both in Graduate School together. I learned
this during the course of a long and fascinating interview with him that
appeared on Book TV (a CSPAN station's weekend programming).
My daughter Christine went to Trinity as an undergrad, and she's now just back
in SA as a grad student at UTSA after several years in California, so that's a
good excuse to combine reasons to go.
This earlier lecture by a geologist looks pretty cool, too:
Trinity University Distinguished Scientists Lecture Series
Robert M. Hazen, senior geologist, Carnegie Institute, will present From the
Big Bang to Broadway: How Things Evolve at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 11, in Laurie
Auditorium. The Trinity University Distinguished Scientists Lecture Series is
made possible by an endowment gift from Mr. and Mrs. Walter F. Brown of San
Antonio.
I know I've heard of Hazen, too, but I don't remember the focus of his research
at this (senior) moment.
Thanks again,
Roger Moore
Houston
-----Original Message-----
From: Josh Rubinstein <kars...@gmail.com>
To: dirt...@comcast.net
Cc: Cave Texas <Texascavers@texascavers.com>
Sent: Thu, Sep 30, 2010 10:22 am
Subject: Re: [Texascavers] Way off topic - but of interest to REAL explorers
For those interested in ants and those who want to see a true American hero, E.
O. Wilson is speaking at Trinity University in San Antonio on Monday 26 Oct.
www.trinity.edu/departments/public_relations/news_releases/100818fall_lectures.htm
Josh
On Wed, Sep 29, 2010 at 7:50 PM, <dirt...@comcast.net> wrote:
Way off topic - but of interest to REAL explorers.
You and I, pushing the limits of knowledge and personal experience in a dark
place where no else (or few, or many) others have gone before - we are (whether
we admit it or not) true scientists. AND explorers. John Wessley Powell going
down the Grand Canyon in our own way------
We believe that universe has order, reason, and that if we can find how to get
there, there is an acceptable chance that we can find our way back out.
In 1973, a junior high school student was on his knees in an abandoned vacant
lot, watching millions of billions of one of our smallest creatures go about
their business.
Read about it. There is a lot here, not explicitly stated, which speaks to our
own drives and lives.
Well written, too.
You may have to get your local library to fetch it from interlibrary loan.
Mark W. Moffett
Adventures Among Ants: A Global Safari With a Cast of Trillions. 2010. Univ
Cal Press.
Printed in China (OF COURSE!!)
Also Required Read: Ogden Nash: "The Ant"
As a close friend once said: "LOOK OUT BELOW!!"
DirtDoc
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
For Immediate Release, September 30, 2010
Contacts: Collette Adkins Giese, Center for Biological Diversity,
(651) 955-3821
Bill Bunch, Save Our Springs Alliance, (512) 784-3749
Petition Filed to Protect Rare Texas Salamanders From Austin Water
Project
AUSTIN, Texas- The Center for Biological Diversity and Save Our Springs
Alliance today filed a formal petition asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service to provide Endangered Species Act protection for a rare Texas
salamander, the Jollyville Plateau salamander. Construction of a
water-treatment plant in the heart of salamander habitat by the city of
Austin poses an urgent threat to the salamander's survival.
"The Jollyville Plateau salamander needs Endangered Species Act
protection to have any chance at survival," said Collette Adkins Giese,
a Center lawyer focused on protecting rare amphibians and reptiles. "And
it's running out of time, especially in light of Austin's plans to build
a water-treatment plant smack in the middle of its habitat."
In response to a 2005 petition from Save Our Springs Alliance, the Fish
and Wildlife Service determined in 2007 that the rare salamander
warranted listing as a threatened or endangered species but that such
listing was precluded. The agency added the species to its candidate
list, which currently includes 250 species, most of which have been
waiting decades for protection. The delay has allowed the city of Austin
to move forward with construction of a new water-treatment plant in key
salamander habitat.
"The city of Austin is plowing ahead with construction of the
water-treatment plant despite evidence that the project threatens the
Jollyville Plateau salamander," said Bill Bunch, executive director of
the Save Our Springs Alliance. "Endangered Species Act protection for
the Jollyville Plateau salamander could finally force the city of Austin
to consider alternatives that minimize harm to endangered species and
native habitats."
A recent genetic study indicates that Jollyville Plateau salamander is
actually made up of two distinct populations, one located on the
Jollyville Plateau and another located to the west and northwest of the
Plateau. The petition filed today seeks protection for both populations
of salamander, each of which is individually more imperiled than the
whole. Intake and transmission tunnels for the water-treatment plant
would run directly through and under habitat for the Plateau population
of the salamander.
Concerned about the water-treatment plant's impacts on the salamander
and the Plateau population in particular, several scientists have sent
the Fish and Wildlife Service a letter advising it of the need for
Endangered Species Act protections for the salamander. "We are concerned
that drilling and tunneling in and adjacent to Jollyville Plateau
salamander habitat poses significant risks to the survival of the
species," wrote the scientists. They warned that there is a
"significant" risk that construction of the transmission tunnels for the
water-treatment plant may dewater critical salamander habitat.
Background
Unlike most salamanders, the Jollyville Plateau salamander retains
external gills throughout its life and inhabits springs, spring runs and
wet caves. Populations that occur in caves exhibit morphology similar to
other cave-dwelling animals, such as reduced eyes, flattened head and
loss of pigmentation. The salamander is limited to a small number of
drainages both on and off the Jollyville Plateau in Travis and
Williamson counties in Texas.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
I was asked by Thomas to post this here.
Following Frank's lead, I have posted a collection of caver portraits mainly
from the Kirkwood Era way back in the 1900s. I apologize in advance for any
name spelling errors or misidentification.
Thomas Moore
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8872&id=100001627759773&l=81691db773
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
from the Kirkwood Era way back in the 1900s.
WOW! I didn't realize the historical significance of the Kirkwood Caver Era -
it's over 100 years old!
And judging from the posted fotos, people from this Era aged much more slowly
than those in this century.....and they were way ahead of their time: check out
the cars and caver gear......
Seriously - these are great fotos. It's fun to see pics of caving friends and
acquaintances from the glory days of Texas caving....
Thanks for sharing!
-----Original Message-----
From: speleoste...@tx.rr.com
To: Texascavers@texascavers.com
Sent: Thu, Sep 30, 2010 1:59 pm
Subject: [Texascavers] Posting Caver Portraits
I was asked by Thomas to post this here.
Following Frank's lead, I have posted a collection of caver portraits mainly
from the Kirkwood Era way back in the 1900s. I apologize in advance for any
name spelling errors or misidentification.
Thomas Moore
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8872&id=100001627759773&l=81691db773
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--- Begin Message ---
> Interior institutes scientific integrity policy
> By Katherine McIntire Peters kpet...@govexec.com September 29, 2010
>
>
> After years of internal discussion and numerous allegations of suppression
> or manipulation of scientific data surrounding decisions involving
> endangered species and climate change, the Interior Department now has a
> formal policy for ensuring scientific integrity in all its activities.
>
>
> Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Wednesday issued a secretarial order
> establishing clear guidelines aimed at ensuring all department decisions,
> policies and actions are based on strong science.
>
>
> "This policy clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of all
> department employees, including career staff and political appointees, in
> upholding principles of scientific integrity and conduct," Salazar said in
> a statement.
>
>
> The order establishes codes of conduct for employees engaged in scientific
> activities or who use science to make decisions, and it requires all
> bureaus and offices to document and make public scientific or technological
> findings or conclusions used in decision-making.
>
>
> Candidates for science and technology positions also must have the
> necessary knowledge, experience and credentials for those positions,
> according to the order. The department also is required to create a system
> for tracking and resolving instances in which scientific integrity could be
> compromised.
>
>
> The order applies to all employees and contractors as well as partners and
> volunteers involved in department activities.
>
>
> Francesca Grifo, senior scientist and director of the scientific integrity
> program at the Union of Concerned Scientists applauded the new policy. "The
> principles outlined in the order, if fully implemented, would go a long way
> toward stopping the manipulation and distortion of science, on everything
> from underwater oil drilling to wildlife protection," she said in a
> statement.
>
>
> "While this is a great framework, the real work begins now," she said.
> "Without specifics and a timeline, these principles will end up as just
> another good idea. There are many details the plan must address, including
> deadlines for releasing information and disclosing meetings with special
> interests. Interior must move quickly to put flesh on these bones."
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Kevin has blown past the $1000 dollar goal and has raised over $1200
and we still have 20+ days to go. He met the threshold to jump over
the edge so now every little bit extra is gravy!
Joe
On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 12:15 PM, Joe Ranzau <jran...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey Folks -
>
> Turns out our very own Kevin McGowan from Houston has taken up the
> challenge to raise $1000 or more for Special Olympics! He plans to
> use his helmet came and film the entire experience. I'm sure we can
> get it posted on a caver site for folks to watch. In just two days he
> has raised at least $350 dollars!
>
> So head on over to http://www.firstgiving.com/kevinmcgowan1 and help
> support a great cause and throw a fellow caver over the edge!
>
> Huzzah!
>
> Joe
>
> p.s. someone please post this on the new mexico list as Kevin has a
> good number of friends from NM too!
>
> On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 9:29 AM, Joe Ranzau <jran...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Rappel off a building for charity
>>
>> By Andrea Ball | Monday, September 13, 2010, 04:41 PM
>>
>> Talk about extreme fundraising.
>>
>> Special Olympics Texas is hosting one of the craziest, sweat-inducing
>> fundraisers I’ve ever heard of. Essentially, people who raise $1,000
>> or more for the nonprofit will be allowed to rappel down the
>> InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel on Nov. 2.
>>
>> Holy. Moly.
>>
>> Here’s the press release:
>>
>> AUSTIN - Calling all adrenaline junkies… do you have what it takes to
>> rappel 15 to 22 stories down a high-rise hotel? If so, Special
>> Olympics Texas wants you! Over the Edge, presented statewide by
>> Subaru, is a Special Olympics Texas FUNdraising event that is geared
>> toward the fearless or those looking to overcome their fears!
>> Premiering in Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and Austin this fall,
>> participants will raise funds (a minimum of $1,000), and their heart
>> rate, for the once-in-a-lifetime experience of rappelling 15 to 22
>> stories down the InterContinental Hotel. Businesses and organizations
>> can raise funds in order to “toss their boss” for the cause.
>>
>> The event kicks off in Dallas/Fort Worth at the InterContinental
>> Dallas Hotel on October 27, drops on the InterContinental Houston
>> Hotel on October 30, and the final descent is in Austin at the
>> InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel on November 2.
>>
>> Over the Edge participants should be 18 years or older by the day of
>> the event, and weigh between 110 to 300 lbs. Each participant agrees
>> to raise a minimum of $1,000 at least two days prior to the event.
>> Every friend, family or co-worker donating $50 to help send
>> participants Over the Edge will be entered for a chance to win a 2011
>> Subaru Outback. To learn more or to register to go Over the Edge,
>> visit www.specialolympicstexas.org today!
>>
>> http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/charity/entries/2010/09/13/rappel_off_a_building_for_char.html?cxntfid=blogs_charity_chat
>>
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Y'all come on down to watch! Is nobody on Texascavers doing this in Austin
or Dallas?
Emily, wife o'Kevin
-----Original Message-----
From: Joe Ranzau [mailto:jran...@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2010 2:40 PM
To: Cavers Texas
Subject: [Texascavers] Re: Rappel off a building for charity
Kevin has blown past the $1000 dollar goal and has raised over $1200 and we
still have 20+ days to go. He met the threshold to jump over the edge so
now every little bit extra is gravy!
Joe
On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 12:15 PM, Joe Ranzau <jran...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hey Folks -
>
> Turns out our very own Kevin McGowan from Houston has taken up the
> challenge to raise $1000 or more for Special Olympics! He plans to
> use his helmet came and film the entire experience. I'm sure we can
> get it posted on a caver site for folks to watch. In just two days he
> has raised at least $350 dollars!
>
> So head on over to http://www.firstgiving.com/kevinmcgowan1 and help
> support a great cause and throw a fellow caver over the edge!
>
> Huzzah!
>
> Joe
>
> p.s. someone please post this on the new mexico list as Kevin has a
> good number of friends from NM too!
>
> On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 9:29 AM, Joe Ranzau <jran...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Rappel off a building for charity
>>
>> By Andrea Ball | Monday, September 13, 2010, 04:41 PM
>>
>> Talk about extreme fundraising.
>>
>> Special Olympics Texas is hosting one of the craziest, sweat-inducing
>> fundraisers Ive ever heard of. Essentially, people who raise $1,000
>> or more for the nonprofit will be allowed to rappel down the
>> InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel on Nov. 2.
>>
>> Holy. Moly.
>>
>> Heres the press release:
>>
>> AUSTIN - Calling all adrenaline junkies
do you have what it takes to
>> rappel 15 to 22 stories down a high-rise hotel? If so, Special
>> Olympics Texas wants you! Over the Edge, presented statewide by
>> Subaru, is a Special Olympics Texas FUNdraising event that is geared
>> toward the fearless or those looking to overcome their fears!
>> Premiering in Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and Austin this fall,
>> participants will raise funds (a minimum of $1,000), and their heart
>> rate, for the once-in-a-lifetime experience of rappelling 15 to 22
>> stories down the InterContinental Hotel. Businesses and organizations
>> can raise funds in order to toss their boss for the cause.
>>
>> The event kicks off in Dallas/Fort Worth at the InterContinental
>> Dallas Hotel on October 27, drops on the InterContinental Houston
>> Hotel on October 30, and the final descent is in Austin at the
>> InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel on November 2.
>>
>> Over the Edge participants should be 18 years or older by the day of
>> the event, and weigh between 110 to 300 lbs. Each participant agrees
>> to raise a minimum of $1,000 at least two days prior to the event.
>> Every friend, family or co-worker donating $50 to help send
>> participants Over the Edge will be entered for a chance to win a 2011
>> Subaru Outback. To learn more or to register to go Over the Edge,
>> visit www.specialolympicstexas.org today!
>>
>> http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/charit
>> y/entries/2010/09/13/rappel_off_a_building_for_char.html?cxntfid=blog
>> s_charity_chat
>>
>
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--- Begin Message ---
This one has only had 60 views, so maybe it is new to a few of you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIol2BCdmBI
It was uploaded over 2 months ago.
And the runner-up is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iFlGKRiyUs
( note that was just uploaded )
The big deal being he did that without a safety line.
David Locklear
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Crystal Cave at Naica, Mexico
Explorers discover some of the largest mineral crystals ever seen.
Videos provided by National Geographic in promotion of their "_Into the
Lost Crystal Caves_
(http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/into-the-lost-crystal-caves-4636/Overview)
" program (October 10, 2010 at 8:00 PM
ET/PT).
The Most Interesting and Most Dangerous Cave
Some of the largest mineral crystals ever discovered are in the Giant
Crystal Caves of Naica, Mexico. The crystals in the cave are absolutely
amazing.
There are giant gypsum crystals up to 36 feet long that weigh over 50
tons.
However, visiting the cave is extremely dangerous. The cave has high
temperature and high humidity conditions that would kill the unprepared person
in a matter of minutes. Temperatures in the cave exceed 50 degrees Celsius
(122 degrees Fahrenheit) and the humidity there is 100%
Video Topics
These three videos from National Geographic will show you how the first
visit to the cave was made, the safety equipment that has been developed to
protect visitors and a glimpse at how a visitor can easily get into
desparate trouble less than one hundred yards from the cave entrance.
The videos were prepared to promote National Geographic's "Into the Lost
Crystal Caves" program which will air on the National Geographic Channel,
Sunday, October 10, 2010 at 8:00 PM ET/PT.
_http://geology.com/articles/naica-crystal-cave/_
(http://geology.com/articles/naica-crystal-cave/)
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Not caving pictures, but some interesting B&W portraits of local people
taken when I participated in the Royal Geographic Society's 1975 British
Speleological Expedition to the headwaters of the Sepik River in Papua New
Guinea. Andy Eavis, who many of you met at ICS last year, was co-leader of
the expedition.
Here's the public link to the album on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2091947&id=1172443723&l=6dc576cb33
We were fortunate to have spent time in the area when many of the Mountain
Ok people still wore traditional dress (penis gourds on the men, nose bones,
etc.). Shortly after the expedition Mountain Ok lifestyles changed
dramatically as the world's largest open pit copper mine was developed in
the area and a local form of Christian evangelism replaced the indigenous
taro cultivation-based religion.
Side note: Mountain Ok religion held special significance for us cavers:
Afek, the Mountain Ok ancestress deity, travelled through the area in large
underground tunnels on her way to create the various Mountain Ok peoples.
When we discovered huge borehole passages during the expedition, the locals
weren't surprised. They had grown up hearing about those passages in Afek
stories. Kinda the Oztotl of Papua New Guinea.
Frank
Frank Binney
Frank Binney & Associates
Interpretive Planning and Media Development
P.O. Box 258
Woodacre, CA 94973
415.488.1200 Voice
415.488.1500 Fax
fr...@frankbinney.com
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Not necessarily cave related:
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0007595
So do cave bats exhibit this kind of behavior?
The scientist received an Nobel Award for this
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Casa <http://www.forums.caves.org/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=10663#p90793>
Aquismon, S.L.P. Mexico
My house in Aquismon, S.L.P. Mexico is ready for cavers.
The house is located approximately 400 meters from the Plaza and about one
hour from such great sotanos as Sotano de las Golondrinas. In addition to
the great pits, there are a number of other caves such as La Cueva Linda to
visit. If you are caving in Mexico, Aquismon is one of the most caver
friendly villages.
I can provide information on how to reach the caving area. Last Christmas
we had 22 cavers staying at my place and the all had a bed.
We have two kitchens, two living rooms, three W.C. rooms, two Men's urinal
rooms, three showers, a full outside bar, a great 12-meter repelling area,
and safe parking.
The place is not open to the public. At this time it would only be cavers.
Contact us to see if it is available for your dates. We still have openings
for Thanksgiving and before Christmas.
The rates are $12.50 per caver per night. Thank you.
Mike Walsh NSS 11077F
512-249-2283
mikewaus...@austin.rr.com
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Sheriff: Pirates shoot U.S. man in Mexican waters
Tourist is shot in the back of the head after being ambushed
By PAUL J. WEBER
The Associated Press
updated 9/30/2010 8:51:30 PM ET
SAN ANTONIO — An American tourist was shot in the back of the head in Mexican
waters on Thursday after being ambushed by armed boaters, a Texas sheriff said.
It happened on a lake where run-ins with pirates had already put fishermen and
Texas officials on alert.
Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez said a 30-year-old man and his wife
were riding personal watercrafts back from Mexico when about six gunmen
approached in two boats. Gonzalez said the man was shot as the couple sped away.
What happened to the man was unclear and the extent of his injuries was
unknown. Gonzalez said the man's wife tried circling back to get him, but
retreated back to U.S. waters after being fired upon again.
"They saw them approaching and started revving it up back to the U.S. side,"
Gonzalez said. "The guys just started shooting at them from behind."
Gonzalez said he has contacted the Mexican consulate and asked them to look for
the man. He said there was nothing else he could do.
One of the boats may have crossed the U.S. side of the lake to fire at the
woman, said Mike Cox, a spokesman for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department.
The shooting renewed warnings of pirates on Falcon Lake, which is about 60
miles (96 kilometers)down the border from Laredo and is popular with water
skiers and bass fishing.
Earlier this year, several fishermen were robbed at gunpoint on the lake's
Mexican side. In those holdups, authorities say the gunmen traveled in the
low-slung, underpowered commercial Mexican fishing boats that are familiar in
the area. They asked for money, drugs and guns, and took what cash was
available, but no one was hurt.
Gonzalez has previously chalked up the dangerous waters as the product of
fighting between rival Mexican drug gangs.
"I would think that, right now, the prudent boater would want to stay on the
Texas side," Cox said Thursday.
Gonzalez said the couple shot at Thursday never spoke to the gunmen. He said
the couple lived in McAllen, Texas, and had ridden over to Mexico for
sightseeing and to take photos of a famous church in Old Guerrero.
That is identical to what five boaters did in April when authorities said they
were approached by men who identified themselves as "Federales" and asked for
drugs. Those boaters handed over $200 before the pirates chased them back to
U.S. waters.
Gonzalez said the woman raced her watercraft to the shores of the first
lakeside homes she could reach and asked for help.
Violence on the Mexican side of the lake has been climbing for several months,
as a fractured partnership between the region's dominant Gulf Cartel and its
former enforcers, the Zetas, plunged many of the area's Mexican border cities
into violence.
Falcon Lake is a dammed section of the Rio Grande that straddles the border.
The border is marked by 14 partially submerged concrete towers that mark the
Rio Grande's path before the lake was created in 1954.
___
Associated Press Writer Terry Wallace in Dallas contributed to this report.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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