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PRESORTED STANDARD US POSTAGE PAID Desert Hot Springs, CA PERMIT NO 00005
W E E K L Y
October 28, 2020 Vol. 16 No. 85
“Madam Justice Barrett”
Photo courtesy of Twitter
Justice Amy Coney Barrett: Senate CONFIRMS Trump appointee to US Supreme Court By Desert Star Staff The Senate has confirmed Judge Amy Coney Barrett as the ninth justice of the US Supreme Court. The mostly party-line vote comes a week before the election and fills
the seat vacated by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Barrett was confirmed on Monday evening in a largely expected vote, with no Democrats in favor and most Republicans in favor, enough
to clear the Senate in which President Donald Trump’s party enjoys a slight majority. The final vote was 52 in favor to 48 opposed, with only Susan Collins (R-Maine) joining the Democrats to vote “no.”
Her swearing-in ceremony was already scheduled for later in the evening at the White House, presided over by Justice Clarence Thomas. Barrett is expected to join her colleagues on the
bench as early as Tuesday. After Ginsburg, a liberal stalwart on the court, Trump nominated Barrett, suddenly passed away from cancer last
because of the critical role bats play in pest control, especially in agriculture. Their guano is an excellent fertilizer, and bats are important pollinators that help spread seeds of the fruits they
munch on. In California, where so much agriculture prevails, there are 23 different species of bats; 19 of these be found in the Coachella Valley, and of those, 10 have been detected
on The Living Desert grounds. So join us here at the Zoo, where we’ll be going batty all week long! For a list of activities and bat-related resources, please check out our website.
Winging it for Bat Week!
By SarahGreely Hello and happy Bat Week! We are celebrating this wonderful, winged mammal from October 24 - 31, and it is quite possible there has never been a more important year to acknowledge the vital role bats play in maintaining healthy ecosystems worldwide than 2020. One reason conservationists have dedicated an entire week to bats is to dispel the negative myths and assumptions about these animals. While many people worry all bats are rabid, the truth is the majority of bats are perfectly healthy. Bats are no more rabies-prone than other mammals! And, although they are feared bloodsuckers, most eat insects or fruit. In fact, out of over 1300 species
of bats worldwide, only 3 drink blood, and instead of a horror movie vampire, they actually lap it like a kitten drinking milk. That’s almost cute! Another sweet bat fact—bats are snuggly! To stay warm, several mothers and young pups will often all huddle up together. The biggest threat to these cuddly bats is habitat loss. Human development is destroying the wild spaces used by bats, putting them in closer proximity to us. While bats are not the virus-ridden species we fear them to be, there is still risk. When roads, homes, or farms are built, bat roosts are lost and these creatures are forced to interact with us more often. Ironically, people don’t realize they rely on sustainable bat populations
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