Are you seeing bats this year?  From my own accounts, I’ve seen a few flying here and there but  the numbers seem low. We’ve asked Leslie Sturges of Bat World NoVa to do the lead article on the state of our bats for the fall issue of the Habitat Herald, but action is needed so I wanted to share a few things with you:

On Wednesday, NPR had an interview on the current status of our bats – you can listen to it here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112035629

Here’s the excerpt from the interview: Scientists are searching the forests of the Northeastern U.S. for bat colonies hit by a disease called white nose syndrome, but they are finding whole forests completely depopulated. Researchers now say the deadly outbreak is expected to reach as far away as Florida and the Midwest.

Your Action is Needed:

I received an email from Bat Conservation International talking about bills moving through Congress right now and the need for more funds so scientists can figure out the problem and come up with a solution.  I’ll include the text of that email here and really encourage you to send a quick note to your Representatives and forward this post to your friends and family to also take action:

White-nose Syndrome is the deadliest disease ever faced by North American bats, with mortality rates of 95 percent or more at some hibernation caves.  In just three years, it has killed a million bats in the northeastern United States and has now spread into nine states. Entire species are potentially at risk across the continent if solutions are not found soon. And Congress is doing little to help.

Please contact your Senator and Congressperson immediately and urge them to provide funds for WNS research before it is too late.

Last April, Bat Conservation International (BCI) asked you to write your elected officials to support WNS research, and you responded. Since then, BCI founder, Merlin Tuttle, and other leading bat scientists and conservationists testified in Congressional hearings about the ecological and economic importance of bats and the urgent need for research to stop the spread of this devastating disease. Unfortunately, Congress has disappointed us. The Appropriations committee has written a bill with very limited funding only to monitor White-nose Syndrome in specific geographic areas. The bill does not fund vital research into causes and solutions.  Simply monitoring the status of the disease and counting the number of dead bats will not solve this crisis.
That’s why we need your help.

Although the House has approved the bill, the Senate will not vote until early September.  We still have time to ask our Congressional representatives to amend the bill to include research funding. Attached is a sample letter you may want to cut and paste into an email to your representatives.

Individual Congressional email addresses can easily be found here:

Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Representatives: http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml#va 

With federal funding still uncertain, donations to the WNS Rapid Response Fund at www.batcon.org/wnsdonateare urgently needed to support BCI’s efforts to combat WNS. As always, contributions in any amount are greatly appreciated.

Please write your representatives.

To listen to more NPR interviews pertaining to bats and White Nose Syndrome, visit their website or right click on the files below to open or download:

Scientists Say Bat Disease Likely to Spread
Bats Plagued by Mysterious ‘White Nose’ Disease
Deadly Disease to Bats Spreads in Northeast
Bat Killing Disease Spreads to More States
Experts Identify Fungus Suspected in Bat Die-Off

EmailShare

Tags: ,