Several years ago, amidst the mosquito hysteria in Plymouth County, the pesticide spraying decimated the bat population. [Spraying was at dusk and dawn, prime hours for bat predation of mosquitoes.]
While we previously could enjoy prime mosquito hours unaffected, their absence has been noted. [The aerial spraying not only decimated bat populations, but other mosquito predators as well.]
Maybe at some point, we'll have the common sense to re-think our application of chemical pesticides.
http://www.wbrcouncil.org/Departments/Mosquito-Abatement/Natural-Mosquito-Killers
Killer fungus endangering bats spreads to Cape
By Patrick Cassidy
October 27, 2013
BARNSTABLE — Proving its ability to reach even the most far-flung and atypical locations, a killer fungus that has decimated bat populations across the Northeast over the past seven years arrived on Cape Cod last winter in an unlikely carrier.
Although the region is not a major hub for hibernating bats, the furry fliers travel to the Cape during the summer, feasting on mosquitoes and other insects humans commonly consider a nuisance.
A year ago, a handful of northern long-eared bats were found locally suffering from white-nose syndrome, which thrives in the moist, cold caves where many bats hibernate, forcing them from their torpor and into the cold weather, typically resulting in death.
"They're dehydrating as well as being starved," said Lynn Miller, director of wildlife rehabilitation at the Cape Wildlife Center in Barnstable.
The syndrome confirmed in the long-eared bats was not only a first for the deadly fungus in the region but also for the species of bat being found on the Cape, said Miller.
As part of a series of Halloween-themed events at the center today, Miller and other staff are kicking off "Year of the Bat" to get the word out about the white-nose syndrome's effect on the bats of the Cape and beyond.
"It has flattened the populations, and it continues to move south and west," Miller said. "Last year, I didn't see bats in the air."
The rehabilitation center is trying to make itself a go-to resource for bats, including educational programs and participation in a survey of bats on the Cape, and also plans to build a free-standing bat aviary to give them a place to fly and gain strength before being released. Last week center staff moved three big brown bats into a specially reinforced screened enclosure in the attic of a barn used for species susceptible to rabies such as coyotes and raccoons.
The bats, one of which was found in Falmouth and another in Framingham, were weak but not suffering from white-nose syndrome when they were brought to the center, facility director Deborah Millman said.
The Framingham bat, which was transferred to the Cape through the state's Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine Wildlife Clinic, was pregnant, Millman said. Although one of the babies died, the other survived and is doing well, she said.
Inside their new home, the bats were placed in a bat box hung near an open window covered with webbing to keep them from getting out but let their winged dinner in. Branches were arranged along the walls of the enclosure so the bats could crawl back up to the box if they needed to, but it left plenty of flight space. A light dangled from the tented ceiling to attract insects at night.
"We will take your bugs," Miller said.
Staff at the center also set up a camera to track the bats' progress during the night, Millman said.
Big brown bats typically hibernate in attics, making the species less prone to the white-nose syndrome, said Thomas French, assistant director for the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife's Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program.
"The ones that go to mines and caves, they died," he said.
For the little brown bat, which congregates in caves and mines in the western part of the state and elsewhere during the winter, the combination of cold weather and moisture has been deadly, French said.
In Massachusetts and other states, mortality among little brown bats since white-nose syndrome was first found in the United States in February 2006 has been as high as 98 percent, French said.
Bats that roost in trees, such as the hoary, red and silver-haired, aren't affected by the disease, he said.
The Cape has never had a substantial number of hibernating bats because of a lack of large spaces with the appropriate temperatures, French said.
"It's got to be a place that never freezes," he said.
The northern long-eared bats may have been hibernating in storm drains, French said.
If a homeowner finds a colony of bats in their home, they shouldn't evict them during the winter when they will die, or during the middle of the summer when baby bats may be present, French said. The fall and spring are the best time to remove bats from the home, which can be done by finding out how they are getting in and setting up a one-way door so that they can leave but can't come back, he said.
Homeowners can also set up a bat box nearby so the animals have someplace to go.
Both French and the staff at the Cape Wildlife Center hope homeowners will do what they can to help bats, which serve a useful purpose in keeping insect populations in check.
Homeowners who find bats that appear injured should be careful but try to get the animal to the Wildlife Center, she said.
Using gloves and avoiding contact with the animal is especially important because of rabies concerns. A Marstons Mills man died from the disease in 2012 after being bitten by a bat.
But, for the time being, bats appear to be in more danger than humans.
French is hopeful some members of the species most affected by white-nose syndrome will survive and be the start of a resistant population like those in Europe, where the fungus is believed to have originated. So far, however, there is little anyone can do to stop it, French said.
"The question is will it spread all the way to the Pacific Coast and how far south will it go," French said.
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131027/NEWS/310270337/-1/NEWSLETTER100
