Ok this photo is a bit misleading. Yes the bat is dead, but it died thousands of years ago in Belize. It is sealed in rock deep inside Chiquibul cave.
But there is something killing bats in the US (here). White Nose Syndrome has killed close to 90% of the hibernating bats in the Northeast US and the disease is moving south. I am researching a story now and frankly I am scared.
Why should anyone care if creepy bats get wiped out? Bats are tremendous insect killing machines. Every night in New England the missing million bats ate an estimated 780,000 pounds of insects, EVERY NIGHT. With their primary predator gone insect populations will surge. That means more pesticides for farmers, more mosquitoes, more mosquito born disease... Think not only West Nile Virus, but Malaria and Yellow Fever.
What can be done? Right now scientists don't know. And quite honestly not enough is known about the disease. What is known is that White Nose Syndrome is spreading rapidly. From New England it has spread across Central Pennsylvania and through Virginia. The State of Tennessee has closed its caves. If you do go caving. Clean and disinfect your gear after each trip. You don't want to be the one who spreads this from cave to cave.
-Stephen Alvarez
I will be interested in your story. I read about the syndrome some time ago, just after reading about the loss of bees.
We all should be concerned when an event of this magnitude occurs. It is scary, and in the same way that the proliferation of Lyme-carrying ticks is scary.
Your image above is stunning.
Posted by: Maureen | January 24, 2010 at 04:57 PM