Wild Georgia: A scary time for bats, a Halloween symbol
Most of us probably don’t pay much attention to bats until this time of year, when Halloween approaches. Along with pumpkins and black cats, bats have long been a symbol of Halloween when fanciful ghosts and goblins rule the day.
But bats are now facing their own scary time, and it is real.
A lethal, mysterious disease, white nose syndrome, is devastating bat populations in the eastern United States. Since its discovery in an upstate New York cave in 2006, it has killed 5.7 million to 6.2 million bats of nine species, according to estimates from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The malady so far has not been discovered in Georgia, but biologists believe it is only a matter of time before it appears. It already has been found in three neighboring states: Alabama, North Carolina and Tennessee.
Scientists believe the fungus — Geomyces destructans — came from Europe and thrives in cold environments. It causes hibernating bats in winter to lose their fat reserves. The severely underweight animals then awaken prematurely from hibernation.
In a desperate attempt to avoid starving, they fly out on cold winter days to look for food. But the great numbers of insects they normally eat during the spring are not yet available. Once a bat colony is affected, the fungus spreads rapidly and may kill 100 percent of bats at a hibernation site in just two years.
Particularly worrisome is the recent discovery of the disease in the endangered gray bat in Tennessee. The disease could reverse efforts to save the bat, which also can be found in Georgia, from extinction. The fungus also has been discovered in another endangered species, the Indiana bat.
Other species affected by the disease include the little brown, big brown, tri-colored, Northern long-eared, Southeastern myotis, small-footed myotis and cave myotis bats. All of them except the cave myotis can be found in Georgia.
Altogether, Georgia has 16 bat species, almost all of which are exclusively insect-eaters, making them critically important in controlling pesky bugs that spread disease, ruin crops and cause serious ecological damage. A colony of 1,000 bats can gobble up 22 pounds of insects in a single summer evening.
This time of year, Georgia’s bats are intent on another goal — mating. Bat babies will be born in May and June.
In the sky: The moon will be full Monday — the "Hunter's Moon," as early settlers called this month's full moon. Venus rises out of the east about two hours before sunrise, said David Dundee, an astronomer at the Tellus Science Museum. Mars is low in the west just after dark and sets in the west a few hours later. Jupiter rises out of the east before dark.
