With just a little more than a week away to Halloween, what could be more appropriate than taking a class about bats? Not the wooden ones. The flying ones. A couple of nights ago, I drove to Mather Field, destination; Splash Education Center at Mather Field. It is one of many buildings at Mather Field that once served the Air Force and its military community. Over 50 of us came to learn about bats at a presentation titled "Going Batty: The facts about bats." My only experience with them, back in the early 60's in Prescott, AZ, was throwing rocks toward the bats so we could watch them dive at them using their sonar. That must've been more fun than it sounds because I've got a good visu

  A deadly fungus that has killed about a million bats on the east coast, known as white nose syndrome, has local biologists worried because it's spreading westward. They're uncertain, however, whether the fungus, which relies on cold temperatures, will mutate into something that can survive warmer Sacramento-like winters, explained Winston Lancaster, an associate professor of biological sciences at Sacramento State University who has been studying bats since the 1980s. “What's the greater likelihood is that it will be different. We just don't know what to expect,” Lancaster said. “So there is good reason to believe that in a drier climate and in an open sort of roost, like we have in

Parents looked closely and children's eyes widened as Northern California Bats' founder Corky Quirk used two live bats to educate in Old Sacramento Saturday. Quirk brought a Mexican Free-Tailed bat and Big Brown bat to Trail Mix, a store selling outdoor merchandise and projects for children and adults. About 40 children, parents and adults attended the event, and about 20 more trickled in after to see the bats. "It went really well with standing room only," Quirk said. "People were really quiet, which really surprised me, but they stayed a long time, which says something to me." Quirk said she wanted to help people understand the importance of bats, what they do for the environment and

Things will get a little batty in Old Sacramento Saturday when Trail Mix and a wildlife rescue group team up to educate people about bats. Corky Quirk, founder of Northern California Bats, will bring live, wild bats to help dispel some of the myths about these nocturnal creatures. She will also teach people about the benefits and habits of the mysterious winged mammals in a presentation from 1-3 p.m. at Trail Mix, a store selling outdoor merchandise for kids and parents at 116B I St., across from the California State Railroad Museum. Thousands of bats roost in the nooks and crannies of the city. In summer, a colony of 150,000 to 200,000 bats live under the Yolo Causeway and may be seen f

 The first two innings of Wednesday morning's River Cats 9-7 roller coaster loss to the Tacoma Raniers were very uneventful.  The only man to reach base was Matt Watson, and he did so on a walk.    Everyone else from either team who stepped to the plate was set down with alacrity. There was no sign of the slugfest to come.               Four pop outs, two fly outs, a couple ground outs, three K's and a line out.  The innings flew by.  By 11:50, a mere 15 minutes into the game, it was 22.22 percent over.  If they'd kept up that pace, they may have set some kind of record.               The first two outs of the top of the third came nearly as quickly.  I was beginning to speculate as to t