Comments on: Bats in the…wine bar? http://ourvalley.org/bats-in-the-wine-bar/ yOur community news source Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:46:53 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Chris Hobson http://ourvalley.org/bats-in-the-wine-bar/comment-page-1/#comment-1024 Chris Hobson Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:48:15 +0000 http://ourvalley.org/?p=2473#comment-1024 Wil mentions a lot of good points, but I will hasten to recognize the bat you showed in your article as a silver haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans), a so called "tree bat" and not one that has been shown to be affected by white nose syndrome (WNS) to date. These are usually solitary bats that prefer to hibernate in isolation, and not in caves, but can be found under shutters, roofing, in sheds, and in wood piles. This species routinely roosts in piles of wood, and can be brought in with firewood, and other outside materials, thus the question, why is it active, and not hibernating...probably rousted from its hibernation site for some reason...not likely a WNS casualty, at least not yet. Your mention of a wood stove insert and cold storage apples, give me two good reasons for its occurence in your house. WNS is indeed a problem, and folks should report bats in the open during winter, or those exhibiting abnormal behavior...in this case, I would not suspect WNS, but Wil's other point is that it may be sick, and it may indeed...rabies is an issue, and there are strains that are particularly potent associated with this bat. Your cat, if it had direct contact with this bat, needs to be watched carefully for abnormal symptoms. If it had no contact, it should not be a problem. Again, this bat is a silver-haired bat, and not a "little brown" bat. The common name "little brown bat" is typically associated with the bat Myotis lucifugus...while yours may be little and brown it is not M. lucifugus, a little bronw bat, and there is an important distinction that relates to WNS that the bat in your photo does not share...it is not colonial, and is not typically a cave dweller, as most of the bats affected by WNS tend to be cave dwellers, yours most likely is not suffering from WNS. I hope this note helps. Chris Hobson Wil mentions a lot of good points, but I will hasten to recognize the bat you showed in your article as a silver haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans), a so called “tree bat” and not one that has been shown to be affected by white nose syndrome (WNS) to date. These are usually solitary bats that prefer to hibernate in isolation, and not in caves, but can be found under shutters, roofing, in sheds, and in wood piles. This species routinely roosts in piles of wood, and can be brought in with firewood, and other outside materials, thus the question, why is it active, and not hibernating…probably rousted from its hibernation site for some reason…not likely a WNS casualty, at least not yet. Your mention of a wood stove insert and cold storage apples, give me two good reasons for its occurence in your house. WNS is indeed a problem, and folks should report bats in the open during winter, or those exhibiting abnormal behavior…in this case, I would not suspect WNS, but Wil’s other point is that it may be sick, and it may indeed…rabies is an issue, and there are strains that are particularly potent associated with this bat. Your cat, if it had direct contact with this bat, needs to be watched carefully for abnormal symptoms. If it had no contact, it should not be a problem. Again, this bat is a silver-haired bat, and not a “little brown” bat. The common name “little brown bat” is typically associated with the bat Myotis lucifugus…while yours may be little and brown it is not M. lucifugus, a little bronw bat, and there is an important distinction that relates to WNS that the bat in your photo does not share…it is not colonial, and is not typically a cave dweller, as most of the bats affected by WNS tend to be cave dwellers, yours most likely is not suffering from WNS.

I hope this note helps.

Chris Hobson

]]> By: Wil Orndorff http://ourvalley.org/bats-in-the-wine-bar/comment-page-1/#comment-1022 Wil Orndorff Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:55:41 +0000 http://ourvalley.org/?p=2473#comment-1022 I suspect that bat is sick, affected by White Nose Syndrome (WNS), an emerging fungal pathogen that is killing bats in large numbers from New England through Pennsylvania and as of last year Virginia and West Virginia. The disease was first identified in 2006, with the initial epidemic in 2007 in the Albany, NY area. Mortality in that area is over 90%. Since then WNS has spread rapidly south down the spine of the Appalachians, affecting dominantly bats that hibernate underground in caves and old mines. One of the characteristics of the WNS outbreak is the appearance of bats on the landscape during winter when they should be in deep hibernation. In the photo on the website, there is a film of what may be Geomyces fungus on the left forearm. For more information on White Nose Syndrome, go to http://www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html. I suspect that bat is sick, affected by White Nose Syndrome (WNS), an emerging fungal pathogen that is killing bats in large numbers from New England through Pennsylvania and as of last year Virginia and West Virginia. The disease was first identified in 2006, with the initial epidemic in 2007 in the Albany, NY area. Mortality in that area is over 90%. Since then WNS has spread rapidly south down the spine of the Appalachians, affecting dominantly bats that hibernate underground in caves and old mines. One of the characteristics of the WNS outbreak is the appearance of bats on the landscape during winter when they should be in deep hibernation. In the photo on the website, there is a film of what may be Geomyces fungus on the left forearm. For more information on White Nose Syndrome, go to http://www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html.

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