August 7, 2009
FeatureBats Dying Off in Huge Numbers
While the BioZine is on summer vacation, enjoy this article from the archives. This article was originally published in August 2008.
This little brown bat shows symptoms of white-nose syndrome.
For many people, bats bring to mind images of blood-sucking vampires, rabies infections, and other nightmarish scenarios. However, these misunderstood mammals are actually a very important part of the local environment in which they are found. Insect-eating species eat huge numbers of insects at night. They save you from bug bites and also save farmers millions of dollars that they would otherwise have to spend on pesticides and other forms of insect control. Recently, massive numbers of bats have been dying off in the northeastern United States. Scientists are in a rush to discover what is behind the mysterious ailment that is causing their deaths.
Bats are perhaps among the most misunderstood of animals. Though hearing the word “bats” might make you think of rabid, blood-sucking blind flying furballs that like to dive bomb into people’s hair, such ideas are mostly untrue. Though vampire bats (found mainly in Central and South America) do feed on blood, they feed on animals such as pigs, cows, horses, and birds much more often than on humans. And, technically speaking, vampire bats do not “suck” blood. Instead, they make a small cut in the animal’s skin and then use their tongues to lap up the flowing blood. Though most bats are active at night, they are not blind; they actually have a highly-developed sense of vision. They do, however, mainly rely on sonar to detect objects in their way—helping them to avoid things such as flying into a person’s hair by accident. While rabies is common in bats, not all bats carry the disease.
Rapid Die-Off of Bats
Regardless of the true nature of bats, their mysterious nature makes them common sights in Halloween decorations and horror movies. However, bats in the northeastern United States are currently facing their own nightmares. Tens of thousands of bats have died as a result of a mysterious ailment in bat colonies throughout New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts.
Many scientists, including Paul Cryan, a bat ecologist with the United States Geological Survey, are puzzled by the rapid die-off of bats. “This is probably one of the strangest and most puzzling problems we have had with bats,” Cryan said in an article reported by The New York Times. “It’s really startling that we’ve not come up with a smoking gun yet.”
Dehydration and emaciation, exhibited by this cluster of bats, are two symptoms of white-nose syndrome.
“White-Nose Syndrome”
One clue the scientists have is the white fungus found on the faces of affected bats, which has led to the illness being named “white-nose syndrome.” Scientists are unsure, however, whether the fungus is a primary cause of death, or just one of many symptoms working together to kill the bats. So far, scientists have come up with three possible hypotheses to explain the mystery affliction.
One hypothesis is that an unidentified pathogen such as a virus, bacterium, or fungus is causing the problem. A second hypothesis is that climate change is affecting the bats’ ability to get food and/or properly hibernate. In addition to the white fungus, many of the dead or dying bats are found to be in very poor condition when discovered, and lack the fat reserves necessary for winter hibernation. A third hypothesis is that pesticide use in the area is decreasing the amount of insects available for food. Pesticides also impact the bats’ metabolism and ability to hibernate. In recent years, agencies in the northeastern United States have increased their use of pesticides to fight the spread of West Nile virus, carried by mosquitoes.
A World Without Bats
A massive die-off of bats is a problem for many reasons. As consumers of insects, bats effectively control pests. For example, a single little brown bat can catch and eat up to 1200 mosquito-sized insects in an hour. Many bats species are important to the agricultural industry. They consume pest species such as cucumber beetles, June beetles, leafhoppers, cutworm moths, and corn earworm moths that can seriously harm crops. So far, white-nose syndrome only appears to have affected northeastern species such as little brown bats, the endangered Indiana bats, northern bats, eastern small-footed bats, and eastern pipistrelles. Scientists think that the affliction could spread to other species across the United States and even to species across borders. For example, Mexican free-tail bats migrate yearly from central Mexico to the southwestern United States. Bats are key pollinators of several desert plant species. For example, while feeding, the lesser long-nosed bat also pollinates agave plants and saguaro cacti in the southwestern desert. A massive die-off of southwestern bat species would also negatively impact desert plants.
More Research is Needed
Researchers worry that this ailment could spread through bat populations across the United States. According to an article in The New York Times, Merlin Tuttle, the president of Bat Conservation International, an education and research group based in Austin, Texas, is extremely concerned. “So far as we can tell at this point, this may be the most serious threat to North American bats we’ve experienced in recorded history,” said Tuttle. “It definitely warrants immediate and careful attention.”
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What Do You Think?
Comments
Comment from: Lisa
August 7, 2008 06:35 PM [#]
I would like to know how to attract more bats to my neighborhood to eat the bugs.
Comment from: Susan
August 7, 2008 06:40 PM [#]
Hi Lisa,
If you live in an area where there are bats, consider putting up a bat house in your backyard. A link to bat houses can be found here:
http://www.batcon.org/home/index.asp?idPage=149&idSubPage=158
Other tips for attracting bats to your neighborhood can also be found on Bat Conservation International's website:
http://www.batcon.org/pdfs/attractingbats.pdf
Comment from: Michael
August 15, 2008 09:39 AM [#]
i was very upset to hear that large quantities of bats are dying due to an unknown circumstances.
Comment from: jazmine
August 15, 2008 12:43 PM [#]
i hope they find what they need to stop this syndrome
Comment from: Kaitlin
August 19, 2008 06:27 AM [#]
Bats are adorable! : )
Comment from: Erin
August 21, 2008 07:47 PM [#]
was very upset to hear that large quantities of bats are dying due to an unknown circumstances.
Comment from: M
August 22, 2008 07:41 AM [#]
:(
Comment from: Cristal
August 24, 2008 07:13 PM [#]
This is very upsetting to hear :(
Bats are awesome creatures!!
Comment from: Bradon
August 26, 2008 07:47 AM [#]
bats are cool.
Comment from: Susan!
August 26, 2008 11:37 AM [#]
I agree bats are amazingly awesome. They do, do a lot for people and it makes me angry that farmers use pesticides because that infects insects therefore infecting bats.
Comment from: Israel
August 26, 2008 10:07 PM [#]
I would like to know what are the possible consequences of the decision.
Comment from: codey gibson
August 27, 2008 06:44 AM [#]
im sorry all the bats are dying cuase there unique and i like them
Comment from: joey
August 27, 2008 07:10 AM [#]
bats are great i have had a few in my back yard and i have seen them do some amazing things
Comment from: joe41
August 27, 2008 10:23 AM [#]
do you think that the bats are dying off due to the food ?
Comment from: jordan
August 27, 2008 11:46 AM [#]
wow. bats are pretty amazing little creatures. we should try to help them as much as possible.
Comment from: cady
August 27, 2008 01:15 PM [#]
this is very interesting
Comment from: Cody
August 28, 2008 12:10 PM [#]
I hope we find out what is wrong with this.
Comment from: Nicole
August 28, 2008 10:39 PM [#]
This is really sad. I hope they find out what's wrong with them as soon as possible and get them all back to shape. Especially the endangered Indiana bat.
Comment from: Tado
September 2, 2008 03:41 PM [#]
Bats are important to the ecosystem and we should try to do everything we can to help them survive... plus they are adorable!!! :)
Comment from: DJ
September 4, 2008 09:45 AM [#]
Never would have guessed
Comment from: Sylvia
September 5, 2008 05:32 PM [#]
this is really sad to hear, considering bats are extraordinary animals and deserve some justice and safety!
Comment from: xiaotianZ
September 7, 2008 03:34 PM [#]
we should try our hardest do save them, bats are cool and they eat bugs!
Comment from: patricia
September 7, 2008 10:29 PM [#]
I hope the bats are okay..
=[
Comment from: Elizabeth
September 8, 2008 10:28 AM [#]
batz sounds like nasty animals but they are actually cool and unique.
Comment from: Denver
September 9, 2008 01:10 PM [#]
I hope a cure is found for the bats! I really like them and I hope for their sake, scientists find a cure for white-nose disease. ;)
Comment from: Randi
September 9, 2008 02:48 PM [#]
wow i hope they find a cure soon.
Comment from: jayson
September 11, 2008 10:20 AM [#]
i like bats
Comment from: mario
September 11, 2008 10:31 AM [#]
we do need these fascinating mammals they help our populations of insects leveled and just imagine having so many mosquitoes out there that bats don't kill we're going to be scared to go out in parks
Comment from: jim
September 11, 2008 01:12 PM [#]
Are there bats in northern nevada
Comment from: Susan
September 11, 2008 03:00 PM [#]
Hi Jim,
To find out about bats in your area, click on this link at Bat Conservation International:
http://batcon.org/SPprofiles/index.asp
and choose "Nevada" from the drop-down list of locations.
Comment from: jessie byrum
September 12, 2008 10:11 AM [#]
bats are amazing cretures and highly talented and it sucks that they're dying off :( they're way cool even if they don't suck blood! :p
Comment from: alex
September 19, 2008 09:47 AM [#]
this is really interesting
Comment from: seth
September 19, 2008 10:00 AM [#]
they should just kill the infected bats
Comment from: a to the j dizzle
September 19, 2008 10:03 AM [#]
bats are rats with wings, good riddence
Comment from: Sheronga
September 19, 2008 11:58 AM [#]
i think that it is extremely terrible that all the bats are dying, especially since they eat all of the nasty nasty insects. i know i for one want the researchers/biologists to figure out what the heck is goin on and how we can fix the problem that was probably caused by humans in the first place, cuz everyone knows that we are a sucky race, just like how the centaurs in harry potter said.
Comment from: Johnny
September 21, 2008 01:53 PM [#]
Well, one, we can figure out the bats have a disease linked to the fungus, fungus can come from dead, rotting animals, and spoiled fruit, which is what a lot of bats eat for food. so perhaps the bat is eating spoiled fruit, and the fungus gets into their system, then comes out the nose, or the bat drinks blood from an animal who is rotting, and receives portions of the fungus into them. now assuming this is true, we really can't do anything for them, because there will always be dead animals and spoiled fruit.
Comment from: Calieee !
September 22, 2008 07:11 AM [#]
bats are coooool (:
Comment from: Torrrrrria !
September 22, 2008 10:25 AM [#]
i agree with calieeee , bats are amazingly awsome :)
Comment from: lanie
September 22, 2008 10:27 AM [#]
they need to find a cure soon... cuz i love bats.... they rock!!!!
Comment from: fred verdugo
September 22, 2008 04:03 PM [#]
i love bats how can people be so careless and allow so many bats to die.
Comment from: fred verdugo
September 22, 2008 04:06 PM [#]
i hope they find a way to save those bats, bats are my favorite animal.
Comment from: KRGR
September 29, 2008 05:54 PM [#]
I LOVE bats!! Every night I see a bunch of them flying over my yard. I hope we find out what is causing them to disappear and save them. And the tips about attracting bats are COOL! LET'S SAVE THE BATS, PEOPLE!!!!
Comment from: candace c.
October 16, 2008 01:45 PM [#]
i think that this situation should be televised. So that people can help the scientists find out what's happening the population of the bats...So everyone can be involved with helping the little Bats!
O...I forgot to say i love BATS!!!!
Comment from: Braden
October 26, 2008 07:59 PM [#]
OK guys you all need a reality check. People are way more important than bats. Why don't we solve our own problems before solving some mammals?
Comment from: Jake
October 27, 2008 05:40 PM [#]
I agree with with Baden, we need to solve our own problems first
Comment from: Victoria
November 1, 2008 10:28 AM [#]
I am not sure who to agree with. All animals are important to our environment but, yes, we do need to solve our problems too.
(Don't think that I hate animals. I love them and I own a 4 month old kitten and fish that are breeding like crazy.)
Comment from: ~alice~
December 7, 2008 12:19 AM [#]
this is tragic
Comment from: ~Dyamond~
August 11, 2009 08:27 AM [#]
What I think bout this article is that they should do somthing to maintain the death of the bats even though they can be evil sometime and they also help in some kind of way.
Comment from: * jazmine*
August 11, 2009 09:37 AM [#]
**** ii think that this article is a good one because it
gives you information on what you think about bats's and help you understand the death of one to.......
Comment from: INSANITY meets REALITY
August 11, 2009 02:56 PM [#]
That's awful that bats are dying... It's really just like the bees... Mass losses of species leads to the end of the world... I think people make too big a deal of how "evil" and "horrible" the "creatures" are... We just need to weigh the fact that if they die the insect population increases, leading that the bugs will eat our crops, we'll cause wars over who gets what food, and then... mass starvation!!!
Comment from: Julie
August 16, 2009 06:15 AM [#]
Bats are one of the many creatures who are misunderstood. I hope they will come up with a solution soon, because without bats, the economy will go down. The farmers will need to spend more money, causing prices to go up.
Comment from: Cookie Monster (Em)
August 18, 2009 08:41 PM [#]
That's really sad. We don't have bats where I live, but I don't want them to die!
Comment from: To Julie
August 18, 2009 08:43 PM [#]
The economy is already down, but you are right. If too many bats die then we will all be affected. It's sad too.
Comment from: Emily
August 19, 2009 07:15 PM [#]
well this is my 1st time on this site, and its an amazing site. As for the spontanious death of all the bats, i am very upset. i beleive 'we' are to blame. i agree that use of pesticide toxicates insects therefore bats are putting toxins into their body. we as people should try to come up with a different way of insect control.
Comment from: ~Bella~
August 19, 2009 10:13 PM [#]
I feel bad for the bats. I went to science camp and they told us there were bats. At the time, I was scared of bats cuz of my nightmares about them(NO JOKE) but after they told me all about bats I didn't worry as much. I thought they were pretty cool. But now that I hear that they are going exstinct, it just makes me sad! =[
Comment from: livetools
August 21, 2009 08:25 AM [#]
i wonder if the deaths may have something to do with a evolution in bactera if it is the bats will either die out or evolve along with it.
Comment from: jeni
August 27, 2009 07:39 AM [#]
i love bats