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Thread: Bats In Trouble

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Thomasville, NC

    Bats In Trouble

    NC is home to seventeen species of bat, and the fungal disease white nose syndrome is decimating some populations.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Undisclosed
    Quote Originally Posted by Devilwin View Post
    NC is home to seventeen species of bat, and the fungal disease white nose syndrome is decimating some populations.
    I seem to recall visiting a cave near Asheville some years ago, and having to wear protective gear over our footwear to avoid the spread of white nose from one cave to the other.

    Bats are an important part of the ecosystem. Just don't tell weezie.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by OldPhiKap View Post
    I seem to recall visiting a cave near Asheville some years ago, and having to wear protective gear over our footwear to avoid the spread of white nose from one cave to the other.

    Bats are an important part of the ecosystem. Just don't tell weezie.
    Several of the caves in the hiking areas outside of NYC have roped the caves off altogether to keep people out for the same reason. Bees also are in real trouble, which is really problematic for our food chain.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Thomasville, NC
    I had more info, but it didn't post because I took so long, so I will ad an abridged version here. The bats most affected here are the little brown, little footed, and tricolored bat. And populations affected are for the most part in NC are in the mountains.
    Researchers at the U of New Hampshire have discovered that a brief exposure of a few seconds to uv light kills the fungus that causes the disease. They plan to find hibernating colonies and treat them for WNS. Hopefully, this can turn things around for these very beneficial night flyers..

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Quote Originally Posted by Devilwin View Post
    NC is home to seventeen species of bat, and the fungal disease white nose syndrome is decimating some populations.
    Having just read an excellent Chuck Wendig novel, this is a dread inducing thread.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Chesapeake, VA.
    Quote Originally Posted by Devilwin View Post
    I had more info, but it didn't post because I took so long, so I will ad an abridged version here. The bats most affected here are the little brown, little footed, and tricolored bat. And populations affected are for the most part in NC are in the mountains.
    Researchers at the U of New Hampshire have discovered that a brief exposure of a few seconds to uv light kills the fungus that causes the disease. They plan to find hibernating colonies and treat them for WNS. Hopefully, this can turn things around for these very beneficial night flyers..
    How do they help, exactly?

    As an Infectious Diseases physician, the first thing that comes to my mind is rabies. And it seems to me that the fewer bats, the better. But I'm sure I'm missing some important ecosystem information.
    "We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Undisclosed
    Quote Originally Posted by rsvman View Post
    How do they help, exactly?

    As an Infectious Diseases physician, the first thing that comes to my mind is rabies. And it seems to me that the fewer bats, the better. But I'm sure I'm missing some important ecosystem information.

    They eat insects and other pests, which helps promote plant growth.

  8. #8
    I remember a night game at Arrowhead - the bats were having a feeding frenzy in the lights. I only recall seeing it at one night game over the 29 seasons with tickets.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham, NC
    I had bats in my attic a few years ago. Discovered them in late June, early July. Had to wait over a month to get rid of them b/c the law says we cannot harm them, they had had babies, and the babies would be left behind in the attic if I had them removed before they were old enough to fly out themselves. Creepy. Could hear them rustling around right over my head at night. And it cost hundreds of $ to clean up the guano.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by rsvman View Post
    How do they help, exactly?

    As an Infectious Diseases physician, the first thing that comes to my mind is rabies. And it seems to me that the fewer bats, the better. But I'm sure I'm missing some important ecosystem information.
    Quote Originally Posted by OldPhiKap View Post
    They eat insects and other pests, which helps promote plant growth.
    Also helps reduce diseases transmitted by insects, like West Nile. Bats are one of the least common sources of rabies transmission, we just hear about it related to bats all the time because people are weird about bats.

    Edit: That apparently isn't true in the USA (bats are the most common source of rabies in humans in that States, but at less than 20 cases per year they're probably doing more good than harm in terms of disease prevention). It appears to be true worldwide though.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Wilmington, NC
    Went to Linville caverns last summer and we had to do the same procedure with the antifungal foot wash. Certain spots of the caves were off limits, and the guide said if they couldn't get it under control, they would have to close the caves until further notice as a precaution.

    On a side note on that trip, my wife and I took a selfie and a young girl that was a guide happened to be in the background. She tried to jump out of the picture, and when she realized she didn't make it out of the frame, she immediately came up to us almost in a panic and said, "so sorry, but you have to delete that. I don't want to be in it. If you like, I can take it for you." I agreed and I could tell she swiped back a couple of pictures to make sure I had actually deleted it.

    Later on, after the tour, an Asian family that spoke broken English asked her to take a picture with their two young kids. She looked mortified and refused, and nearly ran away into the gift shop.

    Weird.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Undisclosed
    Quote Originally Posted by left_hook_lacey View Post
    Went to Linville caverns last summer and we had to do the same procedure with the antifungal foot wash. Certain spots of the caves were off limits, and the guide said if they couldn't get it under control, they would have to close the caves until further notice as a precaution.

    On a side note on that trip, my wife and I took a selfie and a young girl that was a guide happened to be in the background. She tried to jump out of the picture, and when she realized she didn't make it out of the frame, she immediately came up to us almost in a panic and said, "so sorry, but you have to delete that. I don't want to be in it. If you like, I can take it for you." I agreed and I could tell she swiped back a couple of pictures to make sure I had actually deleted it.

    Later on, after the tour, an Asian family that spoke broken English asked her to take a picture with their two young kids. She looked mortified and refused, and nearly ran away into the gift shop.

    Weird.
    "A Mocca man in a wigwam sitting on a Reservation
    With a big black hole in the belly of his soul
    Waiting on an explanation
    While the white man sits on his fat can
    And takes pictures of the Navajo
    Every time he clicks his Kodak pics
    He steals a little bit of soul
    Every time he clicks his Kodak pics
    He steals a little bit of soul."

    -- John Prine

    Maybe she thought you were trying to steal her soul. Of maybe she's on the run.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Thomasville, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by rsvman View Post
    How do they help, exactly?

    As an Infectious Diseases physician, the first thing that comes to my mind is rabies. And it seems to me that the fewer bats, the better. But I'm sure I'm missing some important ecosystem information.
    While it is true bats carry rabies, it is present in only 3% of the population, making foxes, raccoons and skunks as the main culprits. Bats eat many insects. A big brown bat is capable of consuming 2000 mosquitoes in a single night.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by Devilwin View Post
    While it is true bats carry rabies, it is present in only 3% of the population, making foxes, raccoons and skunks as the main culprits. Bats eat many insects. A big brown bat is capable of consuming 2000 mosquitoes in a single night.
    Back of the envelope, you are over 20x more likely to be struck by lightning than to get rabies from a bat.

    Also, flying mammals are cool and bats are all we've got.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh
    Quote Originally Posted by Acymetric View Post
    Back of the envelope, you are over 20x more likely to be struck by lightning than to get rabies from a bat.

    Also, flying mammals are cool and bats are all we've got.
    Whoa, wait a minute there:

    250px-Rocky_the_flying_squirrel.jpg
    [redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Outside Philly
    Quote Originally Posted by devildeac View Post
    Whoa, wait a minute there:

    250px-Rocky_the_flying_squirrel.jpg
    This guy says hello, too.

    scary-flying-monkey-costume.jpg

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Thomasville, NC
    He is right. Flying squirrels glide, not fly. But funny stuff anyway..lol

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Devilwin View Post
    He is right. Flying squirrels glide, not fly. But funny stuff anyway..lol
    Then why does Rocky need those goggles?

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Raleigh
    Quote Originally Posted by Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15 View Post
    Then why does Rocky need those goggles?
    If you had to hang with Bullwinkle all day, everyday, you'd likely understand why...

    [redacted] them and the horses they rode in on.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Acymetric View Post
    Back of the envelope, you are over 20x more likely to be struck by lightning than to get rabies from a bat.

    Also, flying mammals are cool and bats are all we've got.

    We discovered when Nephew Dave was missing in Idaho, more people are killed by bears in Detroit than are in Idaho. They were lost in the woods so any small comfort we could find was nice. They were found safe within 48 hours of being reported missing.

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