White Nose Syndrome

No, it is not the next avian flu or H1N1 virus.  It is a fungus that is devastating a creature that you probably don't think about much:  bats.

Now, you might be thinking  "Ewwww bats."  In fact, that probably is what you are thinking.

But I love bats, and I will tell you why.  They eat bugs.  Specifically, they eat mosquitoes.  And I HATE mosquitoes.  Not only do they love me, but for some reason my body has a really strong negative reaction to them.  Their bite marks swell up into HUGE purple bruises so that all summer long, everyone thinks my husband beats me.

That is not the case.  I just have a ton of mosquito bites.

Now back to bats.  According to two very interesting articles I have read lately on Discovery Channels awesome web site (Warming Caves Could Curtail 'Bat Plague') and (U.S Bats Flying Toward Extinction), my furry flying friends are being threatened by a fungus that wakes them up, itching, from their hibernation.

Now, to the average American, that may sound pretty normal.  We get woken up from our slumber all the time.  (For some, its kids, for me its cats.)  But for bats, waking up during the winter IS a big deal.  Bats conserve a very specific amount of energy, in the form of fat, to get them through the cold winter.  When they are constantly being shocked awake by the need to scratch themselves, they are having to expend precious bits of that energy to reheat their bodies, itch away the irritating fungus, and then fall back asleep. 

The result is a ton of dead bats turning up on cave floors across the Northeast US.  

I realize that many of you are thinking "Good."  But, for those of use who hate mosquitoes, take the time to click the links.  (I think the gentleman proposing the installation of mini-furnaces in bat caves is a little wacky, but, hey, at least he is trying.)