Light a candle for the sweet winged mouse...

[lagilman]

I've been followingthis for a while, but the NYT has a pretty clear article on the problem: In what is one of the worst calamities to hit bat populations in the United States, on average 90 percent of the hibernating bats in four caves and mines in New York have died since last winter.

Wildlife biologists fear a significant die-off in about 15 caves and mines in New York, as well as at sites in Massachusetts and Vermont. Whatever is killing the bats leaves them unusually thin and, in some cases, dotted with a white fungus. Bat experts fear that what they call White Nose Syndrome may spell doom for several species that keep insect pests under control.

I adore bats -- not only do they eat mosquitos (score!) but they're really almost damnably cute. Seriously. Winged, toothy mice. What's not to love?

More to the point for the human race, they're also incredibly important to a healthy ecosystem. So if you have a spare vibe to send, either for the bat populations themselves, or the scientists trying to find the cause/solution....

Comments

[thecityofdis.livejournal.com]

I saw something on this about two months back, as well. I have no idea what's going on, but I certainly hope they're able to put a stop to it.

[bigferret.livejournal.com]

That is terrible. Bats are so important to the ccosystems.

[dianora2.livejournal.com]

I just read that article and it made me really sad, even while the accompanying photos creeped me out! Poor bats.

[deire.livejournal.com]

Oh no! Poor babies! I love bats. I remember one of the bat horror movies having a preview in the theater. Both the friend with me and I stopped and awwwwed over the cute lil' bats close-ups. Not, I think, the reaction desired by the film maker, but oh well. The little bat in question looked so friendly and almost as if it were saying hello.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

Oh man.. this really sucks, big time.}:(

[ferragus.livejournal.com]

Yeah Bats are great.

One of the things I really liked about having a dog in a city (hey Arlington, VA is a city too!) was going into a small park and watching the bats, like evening butterflies, swoop about gobbling up all the mosquitoes that were trying to eat me.

Of course I also enjoy it when the bats would suddenly vanish, because I knew if I looked around, I'd find the owl that chased them off.

Must take more evening walks!

[eeknight.livejournal.com]

Bat houses are really easy to build. We had a couple in Minnesota, under the theory that they'd cut down on the mosquitoes. They didn't in any real sense, but it made you feel better to know there was something out there gobbling those bloodsucking little bastards down by the thousands.

[camille-is-here.livejournal.com]

When I lived in West Philly I had a bat tree in the back yard, and we almost never had mosquitos. It was great.

If we lose the bees and the bats, we are most seriously in trouble.

[plattcave.livejournal.com]

I've written about this a few times on Extinction Blog. It's spreading and no one has a clue what's causing it. Scary stuff.

[neutronjockey.livejournal.com]

90%
OMG that's millions and millions of bats...that's also 100s of thousands of tons of insects that won't be eaten.
This is a potential eco-system problem. A huge one--without mosquitos being force-checked by a predator that leaves a HUGE, HUUUUGE disease vector...
dude...

[lianneb.livejournal.com]

I do like bats, especially for the mosquito eating habit.

Of course, I do draw the line when they're hanging from the bedroom ceiling in my apartment. (It got into the building, then when I opened my apartment door, went swooping down the hallway until it ended up hanging from the popcorn ceiling of my bedroom).

FYI, I got some help and we managed to gently evict the little guy out the window without any harm to him or my new carpeting, so it was all good in the end.