White nose syndrome in Kentucky

Posted on April 13, 2011 by MadelineBodin

Credit: KDFWR

A little brown bat in Trigg County, Kentucky had white nose syndrome. The Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (SCWDS) in Athens, Georgia confirmed the diagnosis. The bat was found in a privately owned cave in southwest Kentucky, about 30 miles southeast of Paducah, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources reports.

No other infected sites were found in a search of caves within a 16 mile radius of the cave. However, 60 “highly suspect” little brown and tri-colored bats were euthanized. Killing the bats, which were not expected to survive, were among the measures the state took to prevent the spread of white nose syndrome beyond this cave, which is a haven for about 2,000 hibernating bats.

“This is likely the most significant disease threat to wildlife Kentucky has ever seen”, said Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commissioner, Dr. Jonathan Gassett in a press release. “It would be professionally irresponsible to take no action to stop or slow this disease.”

In 2009 Kentucky created a white nose syndrome response plan that included actions to take both before and after the syndrome arrived in the state. Indeed, what makes the Kentucky case unusual is that the state is taking steps to slow or stop the disease and is telling the public about them. We’ll stay tuned to see what happens.

For more information, read the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Resources press release. Or read the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service press release, which appears to be identical. Or, read this report from the Louisville Courier-Journal. A few other local news outlets also have the story.

White nose syndrome in Ohio, New Brunswick

Posted on March 31, 2011 by MadelineBodin

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has confirmed the presence of white nose syndrome in bats hibernating in an abandoned mine in the Wayne National Forest in Lawrence County, Ohio. The infected bats were found during surveys in February and March. The Southeastern Wildlife Disease Study in Athens, Georgia evaluated samples taken at the mine and confirmed the presence of the syndrome.

The press release was issued by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and can be found here. So far the local news reports are just reprinting the press release.

In other white nose syndrome news, the syndrome has struck a third Canadian province, New Brunswick. The infected bats were found hibernating in a cave in Albert County, New Brunswick about two weeks ago. The syndrome seems to be hitting the New Brunswick bats harder than it did bats in Quebec or Ontario.

There are stories on the discovery in the Bangor Daily News (Maine), and on CBC News (Canada).

Photo credit: Wayne National Forest and US Fish and Wildlife Service
Photo: A bat during the survey that discovered WNS in Ohio.

Girl bats hang out together for a long time

Posted on February 13, 2011 by MadelineBodin

German and Swiss researchers have found that the social dynamics of bats are only revealed after analyzing large data sets. The researchers examined 20,500 individual observations collected over five years and found that female Bechstein’s bats have social networks as complex and long-lived as those in dolphins, elephants and some primate species.

Bechstein’s bats are a Myotis species (Myotis bechsteinii). They roost in trees and only rarely hibernate in caves. It is an uncommon bat with a patchy distribution throughout Europe, including the United Kingdom.

There’s a brief write-up in the AAAS ScienceShots. And here’s the paper, in the Proceedings of the Royal Academy B.

While the findings lean toward the academic, they offer insight for the study of White Nose Syndrome, and into just what you might discover after collecting 20,500 observations of an animal’s behavior.

WNS in North Carolina

Posted on February 10, 2011 by MadelineBodin


US Fish and Wildlife Service map

Six bats have tested positive for white nose syndrome in North Carolina, according to that state’s Wildlife Resources Commission. Many bats appeared to have the syndrome when researchers surveyed the closed Avery County mine on Feb. 1. Five bats there were collected for testing. One dead bat was found in a cave at Grandfather Mountain State Park, also during a bat inventory, this one in late January.

Read the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission press release here.

Go here for a link to the US Fish and Wildlife Service map of White Nose Syndrome occurrences. (Map is on the bottom of page, right-hand side.)

White nose syndrome in Indiana

Posted on February 4, 2011 by MadelineBodin

Researchers found two bats that appeared to be stricken with white nose syndrome while doing a winter survey of Endless Cave in Washington County, in southern Indiana. This Indiana TV station says the disease was confirmed in one of the bats. However, when last checked, the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s map (at bottom of page) still showed the incident as a suspected case of white nose syndrome. It may be updated by the time you read this.

In other white nose syndrome news, the cover story of the journal Conservation Biology examines white nose syndrome. The researchers conclude that culling sick bats won’t stop the spread of the disease.

Northeast bat numbers down in summer too

Posted on February 1, 2011 by MadelineBodin

In this Biodiversity and Conservation paper, a US Forest Service researcher compares the results of an acoustic bat survey performed last summer at Quabbin Reservoir in central Massachusetts to results from four years ago and finds that numbers are down 72 percent.

Photo: A healthy Indiana bat, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

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