The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has completed a report recommending closing human access to caves and mines where bats with white-nose syndrome are hibernating in an area more than 250 miles from other WNS-affected caves and mines.
Category Archive: Bats
Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/bats/cave-closures-slows-wns/
Wing Fungus Has Lethal Effects on Bats With White Nose Syndrome
Damage to bat wings from the fungus associated with white-nose syndrome (WNS) may cause catastrophic imbalance in life-support processes, according to newly published research. This imbalance may be to blame for the more than 1 million deaths of bats due …
Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/new-england-living/white-nose-syndrome-bat-wing-fungus/
White Nose Syndrome Continues To Devastate Bat Populations
Populations of some bat species have plummeted more than 90 percent in Northeast caves impacted by “White Nose Syndrome,” according to an extensive investigation by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Commissioner Pete Grannis announced today.
Surveying 23 caves at the epicenter of the bat die-off in early 2009, researchers found an alarming decline – 91 percent on average — in the number of hibernating bats. The study included 18 caves in eastern New York, four in western Massachusetts and one in Vermont.
“These steep declines are alarming and disheartening,” Commissioner Grannis said. “Researchers from around the country are focusing on the bat die-off and DEC will continue to work with a wide range of partners to try to get to the heart of the problem.”
The study showed that not all species have reacted the same to White Nose Syndrome (WNS). Species that prefer warmer, wetter roosting spots than other bats have been impacted most severely. For example, the Little Brown bat has declined by an average of 93 percent (Little Browns account for 85 percent of all the bats that hibernate in the Northeast).
The Little Brown bat has declined by an average of 93 percent
A separate survey of the endangered Indiana bat showed it declined 53 percent on average. DEC bat specialist Alan Hicks said roost conditions may explain part but not all of the difference — Indiana bats prefer a colder, dryer hibernating spot than others.
Also, the survey of Indiana bats found stark contrasts between sites. For example, two former mines in Ulster County showed Indiana bat declines of 97 and 29 percent, respectively, with no obvious physical differences other than humidity.
Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/backyard-birding/white-nose-syndrome-update/
Dying Bats and White Nose Syndrome
NBC Nightly News video about the spread of White Nose Syndrome since 2007, and the alarming impact to the bat population of the northeastern United States.
Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/backyard-birding/dying-bats-and-white-nose-syndrome/
Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/backyard-birding/battle-for-bats-wns/
Attracting and Keeping Bats in Your Backyard
There are over 40 species of bats in North America, and there’s a good chance that there are currently bats visiting and living near your backyard.
Bats are shy and gentle creatures, and will not try to get tangled in your hair or suck your blood. In fact, they’ll perform a very beneficial job in your garden – insect control.
By providing a bat house in an open and sunny location, you’ll have a good chance of them taking up residence in your backyard.
Attracting Bats to Your backyard
Pipistrellus Flying
Pipistrellus Flying
Most bats will visit yards looking for insects to eat. They often hunt around streetlamps, targeting insects attracted to the light. Adding a light source to attract insects will also attract moths – a bat favorite!
Moths are also attracted to scented plants like primrose, clematis, barberry, and rotting fruit. Planting a variety of plants, and allowing fruit to ripen and rot on the ground is a good approach to attracting moths.
Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/backyard-birding/attracting-bats/
White Nose Syndrome – What is Killing Our Bats?
White nose syndrome (WNS) is a poorly understood disease associated with the deaths of hundreds of thousands of bats in the northeast. The condition, named for a distinctive ring of fungal growth around the muzzles, and on the wings of many affected animals, was first identified in a cave in Schoharie County, New York in February 2006, and started showing up in the news after January 2007. It spread to other New York caves and into Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut in 2008. In early 2009 it was confirmed in New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The condition has been found in over 25 caves and mines in the northeastern U.S.
Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/new-england-living/white-nose-syndrome-is-killing-bats/
Permanent link to this article: http://blog.newenglandbirdhouse.com/backyard-birding/bat-feeding-from-a-hummingbird-feeder/
Recent Comments