A few days ago the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service posted an update on the white-nosed syndrome wiping out bats across the East. Since February of 2006 when the first caver came across bats with white fuzz on their muzzles hundred of thousands of bats have died.
I love bats. I really do. Look at how cute this guy is! We even get them in our house from time to time and it's my job to catch them and safely put them outside. The first time we had a little brown bat flying around the top of our staircase my husband screamed "DO SOMETHING!" We still laugh about it to this day, but he's right, if one of us has the experience with flying animals it'd be me.
So I am truly saddened to learn that in some hibernacula 90 to 100% of bats are dying.
A fungus with a previously undescribed morphology was isolated from ten bats, so at least we now have a culprit. USFW is aggressively tackling this problem. What can you do?
-Put up a bat house
-if you get bats in your house don't kill them. They're relatively harmless, gently catch them in a towel and shake them out the window. If they really freak you out call your local animal control officer.
I love bats. I really do. Look at how cute this guy is! We even get them in our house from time to time and it's my job to catch them and safely put them outside. The first time we had a little brown bat flying around the top of our staircase my husband screamed "DO SOMETHING!" We still laugh about it to this day, but he's right, if one of us has the experience with flying animals it'd be me.
So I am truly saddened to learn that in some hibernacula 90 to 100% of bats are dying.
A fungus with a previously undescribed morphology was isolated from ten bats, so at least we now have a culprit. USFW is aggressively tackling this problem. What can you do?
-Put up a bat house
-if you get bats in your house don't kill them. They're relatively harmless, gently catch them in a towel and shake them out the window. If they really freak you out call your local animal control officer.
-don't use chemicals on your property (pesticides and fertilizers), these little guys eats a lot of bugs that crawl around your property and those chemicals get passed on to the bats.
-don't explore in caves without checking the cave closure list
Many people are freaked out by bats, but they do so much good. A little brown bat can eat 600 mosquitoes in ONE HOUR! We live near a river, we'll gladly coexist with all the bats that want to live in our neighborhood!
-don't explore in caves without checking the cave closure list
Many people are freaked out by bats, but they do so much good. A little brown bat can eat 600 mosquitoes in ONE HOUR! We live near a river, we'll gladly coexist with all the bats that want to live in our neighborhood!
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