Results tagged “bat”

Tens of thousands of bats have died along the Northeast states, apparently from "white nose syndrome," prompting investigations from state and federal authorities. The most common characteristic in the dead bats is "a white fungus encircling the noses of some, but not all, of the bats," according to the NY Department of Environmental Conservation. The NY DEC adds, "It is not clear how this fungus alone can cause bats to die, however, impacted bats deplete their fat reserves months before their normal springtime emergence from hibernation, and starve to death as a result." Bats are important because they love eating insects—the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services says, "One bat can eat between 600 and 1,000 mosquitoes and other insect pests in just one hour." Now the worry is that the disease will move from the Northeast to the continent's largest bat colonies in the South and Southwest, with extinction a distinct possibility. The Star-Ledger reports that the NJ state Division of Fish and Wildlife only counted 750 bats at Rockaway Township hibernating location; a zoologist said, "We normally find between 26,000 and 29,000 bats in our counts there at the same time each year."

A Bronx man was shot and killed by the police after he refused to drop a baseball bat. The NYPD had been called to a domestic dispute "involving a weapon" at an apartment building Kingsbridge section of the Bronx. WCBS 2, which reports, "A 40-year-old man who lived at the building refused to drop a bat he was holding, and instead lunged at them." Police fired once, hitting him in the chest, and the man died during surgery at the hospital. Last month, the police fatally shot an emotionally disturbed person who wielded a folding chair; the NYPD later backed the shooting, explaining, "Basically, was there an imminent threat to life or serious injury? That is the defining statement.”

The suspect who allegedly struck Pelagio De La Cruz seven times in the head with a bat during a late-night robbery in the Bronx has turned himself over to police. Jamal Roman, 26, was arrested yesterday after being identified by his accomplice, 20-year-old Gavin Scott, who surrendered earlier, accompanied by his grandmother. Scott was captured on a surveillance video rifling through De La Cruz's pockets after Roman allegedly beat the victim outside a University Heights building. As he was led out of the 52nd Precinct last night, Scott yelled to reporters, "I didn't hit him. I didn't do nothing wrong." De La Cruz remained unconscious until last Thursday, when he finally opened his eyes. On Sunday he spoke for the first time, and is undergoing reconstructive surgery on his jaw and face.