At the mention of the word bat, many people conjure up images of scary, bloodsucking night creatures. But what most people don't realize is how critical bats are to our environment. Without bats there would be a huge increase in the number of bugs. Farmers throughout the country actually value and depend on bats to eat 100,000 tons of crop destroying bugs a year. Bats contribute an estimated $23 billion annually to the agricultural industry through insect control and pollination.
But there is a crisis brewing at a very rapid rate concerning bats. They are dying off at a lightening fast rate and this is being called the number one mammal crisis in America. Wildlife officials have pinpointed to a fungus that is killing off so many bats. This fungus is known as White Nose syndrome and has so far destroyed up to a million bats in 18 east coast states. It leaves a fungus on the nose, wings and body of the body and eventually causes death by starvation.
Scientists and wildlife officials are in a race against time to keep this fungus from spreading out west. There is currently no cure for White Nose syndrome and all scientists can do is try to figure out why it is occurring as there are no fund available to try and stop it.
The fungus was found only 5 years ago in a cave near Albany, NY and it is assumed that it spread through contact with hikers who have then carried it beyond this original starting place. A possible suggestion to stop this fungus from spreading is to close off all bat carrying caves to hikers to prevent them from spreading it from cave to cave.
If the bats continue to die off at the current rate, insects will increase exponentially and the use of pesticides will have to increase.
The extra cost of the pesticides will then cause the price of groceries to go up. This trickle-down effect will continue to cause disasterous results in many other areas of American life. The importance of the health of the little bat has never been more critical.
But there is a crisis brewing at a very rapid rate concerning bats. They are dying off at a lightening fast rate and this is being called the number one mammal crisis in America. Wildlife officials have pinpointed to a fungus that is killing off so many bats. This fungus is known as White Nose syndrome and has so far destroyed up to a million bats in 18 east coast states. It leaves a fungus on the nose, wings and body of the body and eventually causes death by starvation.
Scientists and wildlife officials are in a race against time to keep this fungus from spreading out west. There is currently no cure for White Nose syndrome and all scientists can do is try to figure out why it is occurring as there are no fund available to try and stop it.
The fungus was found only 5 years ago in a cave near Albany, NY and it is assumed that it spread through contact with hikers who have then carried it beyond this original starting place. A possible suggestion to stop this fungus from spreading is to close off all bat carrying caves to hikers to prevent them from spreading it from cave to cave.
If the bats continue to die off at the current rate, insects will increase exponentially and the use of pesticides will have to increase.
The extra cost of the pesticides will then cause the price of groceries to go up. This trickle-down effect will continue to cause disasterous results in many other areas of American life. The importance of the health of the little bat has never been more critical.
Video: Dying bats called No. 1 mammal crisis in U.S.
Bats are kinda scarey, to be but their are cute, hope everything works out for them, So I left you , I will never do that again, One Love, You know who, ^_*.
People just don't seem to understand the impact the decimation of the bat population will have on everything. I find it bizarre that a fungal infection is killing bats and the other major insect predator, amphibians. Frogs and toads are also being killed off at alarming rates. I believe it has got to have something to do with people tinkering with genetic codes. Once you start modifying, you don't really know or understand where it will lead. Science has got to wake up. This world is not your petri dish. Stop experimenting on our world.
The planet is changing and the more it changes the more animals we will loose here in Southeast Kansas I hardly see brown bats anymore, rarely see a honey bee and many plants and trees are dieing from the heat and hot sun. I wish this could all change it is scarey what is happening to our planet and all the creatures, plants and humans that live here. I hope they find out the problem with the bats because I miss watching my brown bats at night.
@selkie55 It isn't Science that the experiments in such ways. Science just discovers stuff. Putting new genetic codes into plants and animals and _deploying_ them before proper research has been done to determine their safety is entirely down to corporate greed.