Bats may be scary to look at and they certainly have a history of creating hysteria in the ladies when they fear them getting caught up in their hair.
But Bats are a very important part of nature, and they eat insects consuming thousands of them on a summer’s night.
However, our bats in Ontario seem to fighting a mysterious disease which is killing lots of them. The condition is referred to as “white-nose-syndrome” and has been linked to a fungus that grows on the bats as they hibernate in natural caves and abandoned mines. The fungus irritates the bats causing them to wake up using up their winter fat stores more quickly and forcing them to go outside of their hibernation home during day light hours to look for food, and being winter there isn’t any available for them.
North America has seen five million bats killed because of this condition and it was detected in Canada in 2010.
You can help the bats by reporting any sightings of unusual bat behaviour (flying during the day) or deaths, and by staying away from their hibernation areas. Please call the CCWHC at 1-866-673-4781 (Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Center) or The Ministry at 1-800-667-1940… if you notice anything unusual. Please do not touch any dead animal until you have spoken with the appropriate authority.
Source: Whitby This Week: March 15 2012 Edition.
Serenity's Gift Cove (sgc) 