Bats

(Picture published by Northeast Cave Conservancy.)

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Most of us agree that bats are not pretty. We also agree that they are extremely useful devouring mosquitoes and other pests at a rate of up to 3,000 per night. What will happen to the mosquito population without bats?

According to an article in our local newspaper (The Morning Call), White-nose Syndrome (WNS) is continuing to spread in the northeast US. It has spread “500 miles in two years with a 96 percent mortality rate.”

First spotted in 2006 near Albany New York it has spread through neighboring states and into Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia. “Reported in PA Late last month, Pennsylvania Game Commission officials discovered white-nose syndrome in caves in Carbon and Monroe counties. Before that, they found it in Durham Township, in upper Bucks County, and it's likely in Schuylkill County, too.”

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is caused by fungus Geomyces destructans which grows in cold temperatures when bats immune system is thought to be lowered. For some reason, bats wake from hibernation early using energy reserves before a food source is available - literally starving to death. Researchers continue to work on a solution.

If you see bats flying in the daytime or before the middle of April, report to your State Game Commission or wildlife service. A form to report sick bats from Pennsylvania Game Commission is here.

Bats help control mosquitoes that carry West Nile Virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, Canine Heartworm and crop insects. I don’t find them attractive but I really don’t want to be without them.

(Another WNS post February 27, 2008.)

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Spring Garden Update

I spent most of yesterday afternoon deadheading spent tulips, hyacinths and daffodils to allow the energy to go in to the bulb instead of making seeds.

I’ve finished a lot on my spring list: moved blood grass, divided and potted everything on the list, finished pruning shrubs, finished trimming roses and moved (¾ of) the mulch.

I’ll start the first batch of compost tea this afternoon and make a trip to Hickory Grove in Catasauqua for some annuals to plant in May. If we get more frosty nights like last night I’ll be stashing them in the garage overnight.

There is so much in bloom right now.


Pink azalea


White rhododendron


White lilac


Bleeding Heart


The blooming trees are especially beautiful this year. The redbuds and dogwoods are full of flowers,


After the rain Tuesday, my world is green again.

(Pennsylvania bats white nose syndrome update– Morning Call story 4/29/08 http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-white.6383696apr29,0,6811063.story )

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Bat Problems

These little brown bats in a New York cave were suffering from a disease scientists have dubbed "white nose syndrome." (NANCY HEASLIP/NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION)

2/28/08 - Local update from the Morning Call: "Bucks County bat cave escaping 'white nose' die-off plaguing Northeast." http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-bats-feb28-cn,0,3013519.story

White Nose Syndrome

Elizabeth Licata’s February 20 post on Garden rant http://www.gardenrant.com/ contained a “scary report” on a mysterious disease that is wiping out bats in the northeast.

According to the Boston News, “In March (2007), officials at the New York Department of Environmental Conservation determined that as many as 11,000 bats had died from the disease, dubbed "white nose syndrome" because of a flaky white fungus on the nose of many of the sick and dead bats.”

"I've studied bats for 40-something years, and I've never seen anything like this; it's alarming," said Thomas Kunz, a preeminent bat researcher at Boston University. "It's frustrating and perplexing, because we don't know what it is and we don't know how to control it."

Kunz and other scientists will be entering New York caves this spring to study the bats.

“There is a lot we don’t know,” said Scott Darling, a wildlife biologist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. “There is a real threat.”

Although not the most beautiful animal, a quote from "Homeowner’s Guide To Northeastern Bats And Bat Problems", Penn State, College of Agricultural Sciences, Agricultural Research and Cooperative Extension. http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/uh081.pdf

"Bats make good neighbors. As the only major predators of night flying insects, bats play an important role in controlling many insect pests. A single bat can consume as many as 500 insects in just one hour, or nearly 3,000 insects every night. A colony of just 100 little brown bats, the most abundant species in the Northeast, may consume more than a quarter of a million mosquitoes and other small insects each night."

A small animal – a big problem!