Lactic Tactics 

It would be wise to resist the temptation to stick a #2 Camalot into the perfect hand jam plainly visible in the photo of a certain flailing climber below. Two letter grades harder with the cam in place - that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

It should be noted that the lower section of this climb passes very near a cave that is loaded to the gills with a heapin' helpin' of bat guano. Although in less educated times the bat guano mines in the Atacama were thought to be Chile's economic salvation, we now know it to be a veritable petri dish chock full of E.Coli O157:H7, encephalitis, meningitis, and all other kinds of -itises. Exercise caution and, should you happen across an unoccupied bat nest, give its eggs a good shake. I for one am sick and tired of bats, bees, ants, pigeons, wasps, dogs, and pillbugs ruining my outdoor experiences.

Darin,

Think before you rant. Do you think climbers are the only people perusing this web site? Land managers take a peek to see what climbers are up to also. Recommending that climbers destroy bat eggs is WRONG! You are on the bat's turf. Recall there are area closures for bats as well as other birds. What next, shake the eggs of peregrine and prairie falcons? You best not exacerbate the tension between climbers and land managers.

If you are truly _sick and tired of bats, bees, ants, pigeons, wasps, dogs, and pillbugs ruining (your) outdoor experiences_ then the Boulder Rock Club has a lifetime membership waiting for you.

FWIW - Bats are mammals - they don't lay eggs!

AC (or AC's): No offense intended, as I agree with most of the above. A rant? Probably. Against animals? Nope. I am not tired of seeing animals of any kind, either at the base of the climb or on it - but I am tired of the irritating stupidity that seems to pervade such issues on this site (see Dog and Pigeon posts).

Is a response of this nature appropriate for this site? I suppose we can disagree about that, but I would argue that it is no less appropriate than the original suggestions which provoked the response. I would be more concerned that occasional visitors to the site would get the impression that all the climbers are attacking dogs with sharp rocks, bringing a can of Raid to fend off mid-climb ants, and shaking every pigeon egg that stands between us and glory.

I am a bit concerned at the lack of recognition of what I feel to be the obvious sarcasm of my remark. Certainly I am aware that bats do not lay eggs - I had hoped that would be a clue. Perhaps I overestimate my writing abilities ...

I once shot a Monotremata in my pajamas. What he was doing in my pajamas I'll never know. I then went around the difficult task of removing his tusks. Except in Alabama where the tusks r loosa. But that's irrelephant.