White-nose syndrome haunts bats
The mysterious disease is obliterating U.S. bats as it spreads along the East Coast, and scientists say this could be a make-or-break winter for figuring out how to save them.
Bats are flying ambassadors of Halloween, adding spooky ambience to countless forests, graveyards and haunted houses. Lately, however, the tables have turned — Halloween and the winter it foreshadows are an increasingly scary time to be a bat in America.
Surviving a frigid New England winter with no food isn't easy, and bats undergo extreme physiological changes so they can conserve enough energy. They slow down their heart rates, suppress their immune systems and drop their body temperatures to within one degree of the ambient air. They enter this low-power, near-death state for up to two months at a time, waking up periodically to stretch, preen, relieve themselves and sometimes mate. These hibernation breaks use up about 90 percent of the energy bats have stored for the winter, so it's critical that they only wake up at the right times.
A curiosity killed the bat
From cave to grave
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- Fish and Wildlife Service — White-nose syndrome: Something is killing our bats
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- National Park Service — White-nose syndrome fact sheet (PDF)
- Fort Collins Science Center — White-nose syndrome threatens the survival of hibernating bats in North America
- National Wildlife Health Center — White-nose syndrome: An emerging fungal pathogen?
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Comments
I believe the bat deaths are directly related to the contrail spraying programs ( "Project Cloverleaf" , NASA, "Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather by 2025" USAF and others connected with creating artificial clouds and weather modification) These are not ordinary vapor trails but ongoing experiments in weather modification and the formation of artificial clouds.
It occurred to me that the fine aluminum oxide particulates and barium could create the "white nose" look on the.... More
I think that this is terrible and spelunkers and hikers should not be able to go into those caves. This video is great and explains a lot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUSnHJuJV1E (Just paste this into your toolbar.)
Here is another excellent short documentary video produced by Ravenswood Media for the US Forest Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service about White Nose Syndrome:
http://vimeo.com/4894773
This article is a tremendous resource, but omits a key player. The National Speleological Society (NSS) is actively engaged in protecting bats, studying this disease, and searching for a solution. The NSS maintains the most comprehensive web pages on WNS at www.caves.org/WNS/, has instituted a voluntary moratorium on caving in northeast states affected by WNS, and is actively lobbying Congress for the funding needed to combat this.... More




























