White-Nose Syndrome Hits Ohio

White-Nose Syndrome Hits Ohio was originally published in the BFEC Newsletter, Vol. 16/No. 2, Spring 2012. 

Among the many amazing nocturnal creatures that call Ohio home, none may be more beneficial than our several species of bats. Ohio's bats consume about four tons of insects per night! Unfortunately populations of bats are rapidly declining due to white-nose syndrome (WNS), a disease that causes white fungal growth on the nose and wings of bats (pictured). Bats with this syndrome apparently wake too often from hibernation, which may be causing them to use up stores of body fat during the winter and die from starvation and cold. In some hibernacula (areas where bats hibernate), bats have experienced up to 95 percent mortality rates. 

WNS made its first appearance in Ohio recently in Lawrence County and is very likely in other parts of the state. Research is currently being done to understand WNS and hopefully save remaining populations. Signs of WNS include white fungus on the body, dead or dying bats on the ground and bats flying outside during the day in the cool winter months.

Image: Bat with white-nose syndrome.