St. Louis Post Dispatch, Tues, 9 Apr 12:
WN disease has shown up in Mo, first sign West of the Mississippi. A study has indicated that the European strain of this fungus is the culprit, and is hitting bats here hard, but is not so devastating in Europe. Possibly due to some innate immunity. Likely to have traveled here on tourist's clothes.


FUNGUS, NOT VIRUS, SORRY.

Ya gotta hate filthy tourists

Virus??? I thought it was a fungus.

It is a fungus,and there is plenty of it up here (Geomyces destructans),Little Browns are a thing of the past in our area.

Deadly Bat Plague Spreads to Western US
'White-nose syndrome' has killed millions of bats

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/envi...-147037655.html

Virginia woman nurses ailing bats back to health

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/04/virginia-woman-nurses-ailing-bats-back-to-health-74845.html

Robb, thanks for the link to the articles, very informative.

This is probably the best news I have read about Bats in New York!!

Bat populations rebound in NY caves first struck by deadly white-nose syndrome

Researchers found substantially more bats in several caves that were the first ones struck by white-nose syndrome, giving them a glimmer of hope amid a scourge that has killed millions of bats in North America.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/e...iZTT_story.html

Thank you Albert!

I have been collecting stores about WNS since January 4, 2010 here

https://www.facebook.com/pages/white-nose-syndrome-nwco-task-force/233516848603

I've got some splits off of a good colony of survivor bats that I hived last year if anybody is interested.

andyva

I have never hived bats - just bees.

Not too familiar with the term splits off of bat colony either -just bees.

Sure you were not on the wrong thread and just talking about bees. No you did say bats! ???

If was even bats I don't even think it would be legal AndyVA. Anywhere.

So, thats not bat honey dripping through the ceiling when it rains?

Seriously, I was talking to some people in the know from VPI, some of the stuff was like hearing the plight of the honeybee, bats surviving in places they thought they had been wiped out by WNS, and they were finding out that it is not nearly as devestating the further south you go. Kind of like Africanized bees not making it as far north as originally predicted.
The principal that makes Canada whitetails bigger doesn't work on bats, northern bats are smaller, because they have less feeding season. Coming out of hibernation early is not as bad if you are fatter to begin with or if it's 70 degrees in February, and there are bugs everywhere. It seems that the fungus kills them by making them wake up too early. Nobody seems to know what if any effect WNS has on solitary bat species. At least thats what a bunch of college hippies told me.

WNS seems to effect our cave dwellers and most often seen the Myotis or mouse eared species. The lil brown bat was the species affected most.

There is a fungus called geomyces destructis that makes the bats wake up because many times to itch or scratch. The bats affected with WNS need to find bugs in the dead of winner which is impossible they are found outside dead or sick in the winter. Bats affected with WNS never find a food supply and die due to losing fat cells needed to make it to warmer weather and night flights full of bugs.

The article stated- "Figures released Thursday by the state Department of Environmental Conservation showed notable increases in the number of little brown bats in three out of five upstate New York hibernation caves where scientists first noticed white nose decimating winter bat populations six years ago. The largest cave saw an increase from 1,496 little browns last year to 2,402 this winter."

Nice analogy comparing bees to bats. These are sad times for our environment if you think of it we have two principal pollinators of our nations food supply are both in decline.

Robb

Good point, Robb; it's evolution at work. Sure hope it lasts. PCO's see it in species developing resistance to pesticides.
The only other short-term solution that presents itself would be bringing in G. destructis-tolerant bats from Europe; that could be very risky in and of itself, tho.

One of the most difficult aspects of this disease is the species being affected. Most other wildlife we can tag, monitor and track.
Bats are incredibly difficult to monitor even with modern advances in smaller technology and longer battery life. I'm surprised they
are reporting these increases which may cause some to think this is turning the corner versus the possibility of bats switching from
one hibernacula to another. 1,000 bat increase in the face of 5.7 million plus estimated dead seems like the kind of thing a politician
that doesn't want to fund WNS action might take to and run with.

Can see the headline now from the media - "bats are increasing, it looks like the worst is over"

We should all expect some bats will survive and spread immunity through reproduction the way all organisms do from the petri dish
to the largest on the planet, however the time it takes and the low reproductive rate of these small myotis species may make this a long
road and forever change the face of bat populations regionally.

Out here people are still hoping something will stop the spread and since they closed most major caves on public land and everyone is
following decon protocols the chances of slowing or stopping the spread seem good.

It is good that people stay tuned into this issue, not just because it matters to those doing bat exclusion work but to all of us who are interested
in the world around us and the role bats play in it.

Probably one of the most interesting wildlife species I've ever had the pleasure to interact with.

Justin

Good point, Justin; obviously it's too soon for bats to have bounced back from WNS epidemic. However, could it be that a resistant strain of Myotis has survived and is quickly filling the void left by the WNS-killed individuals?
...either way, as Robb says, the best news in a long time.
I'm looking forward to dicussing it tonite on the Podcast.

The good news Dave Schmidt is you really will even have a chance to discuss this with Justin who is one of tonight special guests!

I agree with Justin of all the species I have worked with bats are the one species I enjoy the most !!