Batless Belfry, Part II
August, 2010 I made an entry called “Batless Belfry ” (opens in new window). Anybody remember? Well, it’s still happening, folks. I saw a grand total of two bats all summer, in an area where I used to be able to spot dozens in the summer twilight.
The National Speleological Society has a good summary on their White Nose Syndrome page. Ditto Bat Conservation International , a group I’ve been a member of for over two decades now. I’ve taken the map below directly from them; on their site the map is interactive and can provide you with more information:
For those of you who want to skip the links and get some quick facts, White Nose Syndrome (WNS) is a disease now proven to be caused by a fungus. It kills bats by causing them to wake up from hibernation in the middle of winter, resulting in death by starvation or from exposure to the cold when they leave their hibernation area in a futile attempt to find food. Even confirmed bat-haters should care. Bats are major players in the control of harmful insects. Mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile virus in people and heartworm in dogs and cats are likely to rise because mosquito populations will lose a major population-check. Cost of vegetables will rise because many crop pests are controlled by bats. If that isn’t enough, then consider the fact that this a major epidemic with high mortality and the very real potential to cause regional extinctions that could likely become national and continental. Learning how to control this outbreak will add to our knowledge of how to treat other outbreaks of disease, with lessons applicable to people as well as animals.
I urge you to learn more. Visit the sites I’ve mentioned. Google White Nose Syndrome Find out why you should give a damn. And then do something that might make a difference.
This won’t cost you anything. Go to WhiteHouse.gov, We The People. Sign the petition to urge the Obama administration to fund the fight against White-nose Syndrome in the Presidentâs Fiscal Year 2013 budget. Yes, you need to register first. No, you won’t get any spam/email unless you elect to. And yes, it’s just that important. Twenty-thousand more signatures are needed by next Friday to get the administration to even consider funding this.
Like anything connected with the government, though, there is one catch. Their damned web site has incompatibilities with Internet Explorer. You won’t be able to register to sign the petition if you use Explorer as your browser. I got around this by installing Google Chrome and registering using that. My plan was to uninstall it once I was done, but I kinda like it and will probably fool around with it a bit before making up my mind whether or not to expel it from my hard drive.
Holy fungus, Batman!!! (So very sorry, but I just HAD to do it!)
I do remember the bat post (same bat channel, different bat time 😉 ) from before. While I realize it’s not strictly the same thing, this reminds me a lot of colony collapse in bees. Apiarists have been having one hell of a time figuring out how to stop it. Judging by this map White Nose Syndrome doesn’t seem to be in California yet. Since the temperatures rarely dip below freezing where I am I would guess that my local bats are not susceptible since they don’t hibernate and have sources of food in winter? Or maybe they will get it when it gets here. Please feel free to educate me. Living in a place surrounded by rice fields, orchards, hay fields, pastures and hundreds of bodies of water, I well realize how important bats are. Without bats I’m sure I’d be carried away in my sleep every summer by the swarming hoards of mosquitoes!