I can’t let Halloween go without putting up a couple of spooky climate stories. Here are two.

Vampire bats live naturally in Central and South America, but have been moving north with the warmer climate. They can weaken cattle by sucking blood from the animals and can sometimes carry diseases like rabies. You can read more here.

Atlas Obscura has an interesting story about “spooklights” seen in Clinch County, GA, just northwest of the Okefenokee Swamp. These lights are ball-like lights that float through the air, lasting a few minutes before disappearing. While there are a lot of spooky stories about these lights, most scientists attribute the lights to phosphorus gas coming off the swamp. You can read more at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/searching-spook-lights-southern-georgia.

Wildfire caused the West Mims Fire in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge to close Saturday. (Credit: Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge)