1 million bats killed by fungus, 2 species could become extinct

This just breaks my heart. I love bats, they are neat, they also eat insane amounts of insects. They are much needed members of the environment.

Bats have been nearly wiped out in states including Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont by white-nose syndrome. A survey of six species at 42 sites in those states found that their numbers have declined by almost 90 percent.

This is just a tragedy.

But it might already be too late to save some bats in the Northeast. Two species could become extinct in Mid-Atlantic states in as few as seven years, scientists said

As the article goes on to say, the loss of insect eating bats could mean more damage to crops by insects, leading farmers to use more pesticides.

I hope someone quickly develops a breeding program for the now decimated species.

What is important to know is that the disease strikes while the bat is hibernating, so this winter could mean more decimation.

I wonder if encouraging homeowners to help have bats live in their yards would help negate some of the damage done.

Not a bad idea to have bat houses anyways to control mosquitos.Bat houses are easy to build and keep.

There is lots of information in this article:

washingt onpost.com

reply to post by nixie_nox


I'm sure you meant extinct

reply to post by nixie_nox


First bees and now bats. These are the canaries in the coal mine for our species. Well actually frogs are and they are not faring well themselves. This is going to make a difference in the mosquito population. An increase of mosquitoes means naturally an increase the spread of the more deadly hemorrhagic dengue carried by mosquitoes. I also am a great fan of bats and this is very depressing news. Halloween should be changed from the cavity inducing ghoul fest it is... to protect a fellow mammal.... Appreciate the bat day.

reply to post by acrux


*laughs* your right.

guilty of posting before caffeine.

Can the mods fix that please?

reply to post by newcovenant


I had that thought too, but I didn't want to be an alarmist. Though there was an huge increase in native mosquito species after Irene because of all the sitting water, though pandemics were not a concern.

It would be interesting to know if a fungus is a natural "predator" of bats or not, or if this is out of the ordinary like colony collapse.

The difference between the bats and the bees however is that honeybees are not Native to North America. They were introducted from Europe.

About 10 years ago a small group of people quietly petitioned the removal of bats from our area as "a nuisance" and succeeded. 2 years later the same group and thousands of others demanded the city to reintroduce them to the city due to over population of insects and the rise in diseases. The city then spent $7mil in tax payers money to reintroduce what was already here.

The loss of bats in large areas will cause major problems nationwide. This fact must be seen and understood or we as a population will be lost.

The last thing we need to do is to try and protect a failing species. There is a reason they are going extinct, its called survival of the fittest. Does anyone miss the dodo bird? I don't.

I think it was last year Id posted some info on our bat issue. It started about 2 yrs ago. I have numerous bat houses and had a BUNCH of bats. If you hate mosquitos, make your area hospitable to bats Anyway, one year all of a sudden ALL the bats were gone. I mean no bodies, nada.. just gone. Now Im overrun by insects. The thing is though it happened so darned fast. There one season gone the next. Then it was my butterflies.. gone. I have a butterfly garden that attracts both butters and hummingbirds. NONE in the last 2 yrs. No butterflies or hummingbirds anymore. I used to have to hose the bees off of my glass hummingbird feeders... NO bees. However, I am completely overrun with rabbits and squirrels... and Im in the city. Im old and I can see something is badly wrong. WHen I was a kid you could cover yourself in butterflies and my mother had so many hummingbirds and bees around the gardens it was crazy. These days nothing.

Now they will kill of the rest of the critters by developing something to kill the fungus.

reply to post by BIGPoJo


Take a look at your avatar. Its a virus yes? This failing species you are so willing to let go of protects us from major problems of these virus breakouts. Is it really your opinion that its okay to remove or allow this buffer zone to fail? Or did you just not think it through before posting?

reply to post by BIGPoJo


Um, the dodo bird was made extinct by humans....

*facepalm*

reply to post by Agarta


That is just awful on a major scale.But people are stupid like that. When I worked for the health dept. people would call up demanding we eradicate the deer since they carry lyme's disease.
Remove what you find unpleasant.

reply to post by nixie_nox


What I find interesting is that Humans remove what they don't like, what is perceived to be a threat, and/or what will make them money. Yet when ever they talk about bringing an extinct animal back through DNA instead of thinking triceratops or brontosaurus to help with food they automatically think predators. Backward thinking if you ask me.

reply to post by Agarta


I read a fantastic point once on this very subject. It was about sharks killing some surfers off of Hawaii, and the article stated to the effect that some Hawaiians and officials wanted the sharks destroyed. 2 people were killed that year due to shark attacks.
40 drown each year.

reply to post by Agarta


Bats will adapt or die off. There are bats overseas that survive this fungus. Its a problem in America because this fungus is new to the region.

Also, check this out.

Migratory bats, which don't hibernate, aren't affected, said Don Wilson, curator emeritus for the Smithsonian's Division of Mammals, because "they tend not to use caves.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

reply to post by BIGPoJo

White-nose syndrome kills bats hibernating in caves; the fungus spreads when people track it from one cave to another.

From the link you posted.
I think if we are causing the problem, then we should fix it. Good post and info though.

This is breaking my heart also. It's sad to see that that bats of today are so fragile they cannot handle some fungus.

reply to post by quakerdipps

If the theories presented in BIGPoJo's post are correct, than it is caused by the fungus being spread by humans. One can assume that the cave(s) this fungi originated in either had bats that had developed immunities, or, had no bats at all.
When folks go to foreign parts of the world, they are exposed to foreign germs and variations of germs, etc.
As with the bats, we are likely to get sick from the new germs and things we have not developed resistances for.

Not trying to make fun or say you aren't "correct" since, you just stated your opinion, but, I think you shouldn't feel sad for the bats for the reason you posted. I would be sad because humans have allegedly spread this fungus and again, encroached on another species existence. But, humans may also be the ones to save the bats in distress from this, if they cant do it themselves.