Why "white-nose syndrome" that has been wreaking havoc on the country's bat population for quite a while now is hitting a fever pitch, with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service warning that the little guys might soon be extinct thanks to the deadly fungus. more ›

Carl Paladino is not only Pope Benedict's #1 stunt double, but a reasonable man who holds his tongue unless he absolutely must speak out against injustice. But in an interview with the Observer today, it's the media's misguided lionization of Cuomo for largely bridging a $10 million deficit that forces Paladino's tongue to once again, utter truth. "He didn’t do anything. What did he do? He contrived a $10 billion deficit, you guys never inquired as to why…He didn’t solve sh@t, but you guys made him a hero.” Perhaps Cuomo didn't solve it because he was too busy bathing in it? more ›

Two women say they were driven out of the Washington Heights apartment they just moved into by an infestation of bats that kept them up all night and possibly bit them in their sleep. Holy smokes! And now, the women are suing the landlord for a cool $1 million. more ›

Tonight, just before you drift off to sleep, as the breeze from your fan makes the sheets gently kiss your weary cheeks, that slight tingling sensation on your foot that you thought was restless leg syndrome may in fact be a VAMPIRE BAT. more ›

What's really behind the bar at Brooklyn watering holes? Hopefully you'll never find out, but the Brooklyn Paper reports on some of the makeshift security systems barkeeps keep hidden from their patrons. more ›

The Department of Health has just issued a warning stating that six rabid raccoons have been found in Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx in recent weeks. As such, the DoH warns us all to stay away from not only the black-eyed beasts, but also skunks, bats, stray dogs, stray cats and other wild animals. more ›

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." more ›