Bats with White Noses

Classify this as an environmental mystery. A fungus from somewhere appears to be killing the bats in Connecticut.

State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) officials said 80% to 90% of bats in two major places where they hibernate have died after contracting white nose syndrome (WNS).

DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy said while no one yet knows for sure what is causing WNS, “we will see the ramifications of this in just a few months. Far fewer bats will be out there working to consume mosquitoes and other flying insects that attack people, as well as our forests and farmlands.”

Problems with WNS is highest among brown bats and northern long-eared bats, the state’s most common, but has spread to other species.

Very interesting.