Long-Eared Bat Declared Threatened
For years, migratory bat populations in the Midwest have been threatened by a disease known as White Nose Syndrome (WNS), a fungal disease that infects the skin on the nose, ears, and wings of migratory bats. The fungus causes erratic behavior and causes the bats to use up their winter energy reserves prematurely, resulting in their death over the winter. While ground zero for WNS has been Indiana, there has been considerable concern that WNS would spread to Michigan’s bat population via the migration of the Indiana brown bat. As of 2011, it appeared that Michigan’s bats were safe from WNS based on a study of 24 different known hibernation sites by the DNR. However, in subsequent years instances of WNS have been noted in Michigan’s migratory bats. This spring, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service have put Michigan’s long eared bat on the list of “threatened” species. This does…
