Facts About Bats

- Many bat species living among the Appalachian Trail are endangered.

- Bats are mammals and are the only mammals that can fly.

- they use echolocation for navigation: to know where they are going, and to find their prey

- many bat species live in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park; some of those species are the little brown bat, hoary bat, and the Indiana bat

White-Nose Syndrome

Today a new threat of an infectious disease has erupted among the Appalachian National Parks.  The fungus disease is called White-Nose Syndrome.  It is infecting many of the bat species and causing them to be endangered.  One of those species that are infected are the little brown bats which were "once the most common bat species in the northern United States." Now today many of the little brown bats are endangered and are in danger of extinction throughout the northeast of America.  The White-Nose Syndrome have caused the death of millions of bat species.  The little brown bat species are even in "danger of extinction throughout" the whole country of America.  Many other bat species are prone to being infected by the disease.  The White-Nose Syndrome have first been reported in 2006 in New York.  Mollie Matteson who is a conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity stated that "mortality rates of nearly 100 percent have been reported at some bat-hibernation sites infected with the disease." 

The White-Nose Syndrome gets on the bats muzzles when they are hibernating.  This causes many of them to fly out of their caves where there is no food for them.  It also weakens their whole body causing them to fall to the ground and parish.

Some bat speces like the little brown bats are not yet protected under the Endangered Species Act.  By adding them to the Endangered Species Act it would help protect them from being endangered or worse disappear into extinction.

The loss of many bat species could cause major problems for "people and wildlife".  Many bats control the insect population since many of them eat insects as their main diet.  However, the White-Nose Syndrome have caused the bat population to decline which means "approximately 700 fewer tons of insects are consumed each year."  This results to "increase populations of mosquitos" which results to an "increase in mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile virus and viral encephalitis."  The decline of bat species could also cause problems for farmers since there may not be enough bats to eat the insects that are ruining farm crops and timber. It could also cause the "loss of our natural heritage."

Some National Parks have signs restricting cave access to tourists or hikers.  For example there's a sign in Clifty Falls State Park in Indiana that restricts people from entering "bat-inhabited caves".  The sign read: In bold letters; CAVES CLOSED: All caves, sinkholes, tunnels and mines on this property are closed in an effort to slow the spread of White-Nose Syndrome (WNS). This ailment has killed hundreds of thousands of bats in the eastern United States and may soon threaten bats in Indiana.  People who visit the caves could increase the spread of the White-Nose Syndrome from the "spores and hyphae" attaching to their clothes spreading to "bats in uncontaminated caves." 

The White-Nose Syndrome is a disease that is only affecting bats.  The disease is most likely caused by a fungus called Geomyces destructans.  About seven species of bats living in Appalachian National Parks are affected by this disease threatening them into endangerment or worse into extinction.