BEND, Ore. — Federal authorities in the Northwest are working on plans to prevent, or at least slow, a fungus held responsible for the deaths of millions of bats in eastern states.
The fungus causes a condition called white nose syndrome, frosting the bats’ muzzles and rousing them out of hibernation.
The bats die when they leave their caves in winter weather in a vain search for insects to eat.
The fungus showed up in New York state in 2006. Federal officials say it’s killed about 6 million bats in 16 states east of the Mississippi River. Some cavers have disputed the size of the die-off.
The little brown bat has been particularly susceptible, the Bend Bulletin reported. It’s found on the East Coast and in Central Oregon.
The Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service are working on a plan to protect Northwest bats. It’s expected to be out in a few months, said Pat Ormsbee, bat specialist for the agencies in Oregon and Washington.
During winter, most bats hibernate, often tucking themselves away in caves, Ormsbee said. Slowing their heart rates and lowering their body temperatures, the bats enter torpor, a state where they nearly shut down, she said.
As the bats snooze, the fungus spreads to their noses and wings, Ormsbee said. Irritated, they are roused and expend the dab of energy they were saving for spring.
The fungus can be passed from one bat to another, but its spores also cling to the clothing and gear of people exploring caves.
Efforts to keep white-nose syndrome from Northwest bats are focused on educating cave-goers and making sure that if they’ve been in any caves where the fungus is found, they decontaminate clothes and gear.
Many caves are closed in winter to protect bats. Agency workers said those closures could be expanded, although there are no plans to do so yet.
Last summer at Lava River Cave, a Deschutes National Forest employee and five volunteers stopped visitors headed inside to check whether they’d recently explored any caves known to have the fungus. In a typical year, the lava tube draws 60,000 visitors, said Julie York, a wildlife biologist.
“People from all over the country and all over the world come to Lava River Cave,” she said.
Such an international cave explorer is likely the culprit who unknowingly brought white-nose syndrome to the U.S., Ormsbee said.
American scientists first detected the fungus at Howe Caverns in New York, a commercial cave that sees 200,000 visitors a year. European bats aren’t fazed by the fungus.
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