Biologists this week confirmed the first Tennessee cases of a bat fungus that could cause mass die-offs among some of nature's best bug controllers. "We will notice a marked increase in insects in our backyards and our gardens," said Don King, a Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency spokesman. The agency announced Tuesday that two tri-colored bats hibernating in an East Tennessee cave tested positive for white nose syndrome, a fungus already responsible for the deaths of thousands of bats in the Northeast.
Richard Kirk, endangered species coordinator for the resources agency, said Tennesseans may feel the repercussions of the disease and die-offs soon, which also could push the endangered Indiana and gray bats to extinction.
The fast-spreading fungus killed at least 95 percent of bats at one New York hibernation site in two years, he said. Biologists first found the disease at four sites in New York in the winter of 2006 and 2007, he said, and it now has spread to nine states, including Virginia and the Volunteer State. "We have a lot more caves in Tennessee," Mr. Kirk said.
The infected bats were hibernating in Worley's Cave in Sullivan County, located on the Virginia state line in far northeastern Tennessee. Scientists are trying to determine the cause of the fungus. They believe it can be transmitted from cave to cave on the shoes and equipment of cavers, but it also is believed to be transmitted from bat to bat.
There have been no reported human illnesses attributed to white nose syndrome, and there is no current evidence to suggest it is harmful to humans or other organisms. The fungus that appears on the faces, ears, wings and feet of hibernating bats causes infected bats to lose weight. Hungry, the bats leave the cave early in search of food. Since the insects they normally eat are unavailable at that time, the bats find nothing to eat, biologists say.
"They literally starve to death," said Cherokee National Forest wildlife biologist Laura Lewis, who has said she especially is concerned about endangered and threatened species of bats locally.
More:
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/feb/18/bat-fungus-threatens-backyards-crops/?localBat Facts
* Bats can eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes in an hour.
* The loss of 500,000 bats would mean 2.4 million pounds of mosquitos and bugs aren't eaten in a year.
* More than half of the bat species in the United States are in severe decline or are listed as endangered.
* Bats can live to be more than 30 years old, and most have only one pup a year, making them extremely vulnerable to extinction.
* Bat colonies can contain millions of bats, with young pups clustering in groups of up to 500 per square foot.
* Bat mothers can find their babies among thousands or millions of other bats by their voices and scents.
* 40 species of bats live in the United States; 15 live in Tennessee.
* With more than 900 species worldwide, bats make up one-quarter of the world's mammal population.
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