Hi Texas Cavers!
I am forwarding this WNS meeting report for informational purposes, I know this
is somewhat Indiana specific, but this does have a lot of good info and
addresses many of the problems that many states are facing with this.
Have a great weekend!
Ron
To all concerned,
After talking with many cavers since the White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) meeting last
Thursday night (5/21) I have put together this summary of the meeting and the
perspectives of some of the cavers. The function of this letter is twofold, to
inform cavers about the meeting and WNS in general, and to summarize caver
views and give feedback in writing to the officials involved.
The IDNR and USFW informational meeting was well represented by several
concerned state and federal officials. DNR Deputy Director John Davis, who
made the decision to close all State owned cave resources, was there in person
to face all those impacted. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Biologists Andrew
King and Scott Johnson, both out of Bloomington, IN presented info from their
side. They did a good job of inviting grottos, outdoor clubs, miners, loggers
and other stakeholders from Indiana and surrounding states. They all stayed
late until all questions were answered!
The Presentation
The first portion of the meeting was a video presentation showing the
investigation of bat fatalities in a Vermont cave. It was devastating to see
the huge amounts of little brown bats dead and dying from the effects of this
thing. A lot of them just froze by going to colder spots outside to try to slow
down their metabolisms in a desperate attempt to use as little energy as
possible. The scientists studying the carnage were the same folks who have
spent the last 40 or whatever years of their lives trying (successfully) to
boost the populations of these very animals. You could see the devastation
written all over their faces.
The History
Even though I thought I was well informed, there were several points that I
learned from the informational portion of the meeting. WNS was first documented
in a commercial cave (Howe Caverns) in New York State. Also further background
info stated that a similar looking fungus has been documented on bats seen in
Europe. The statement was also made that Europe does not have significant
numbers of bats with colonies of 50 or less seen at the most populous areas,
and I got the impression that for the amount of caves there are in Europe,
there should be a lot more bats. Cavers in Europe have seen a similar fungus on
an occasional bat and considered it normal for what they have seen over the
years. A photo showed a single bat with fungus growing on its nose within a
small cluster, and it was the only one in the cluster that had it. The European
fungus is currently being compared to the US version to see if it is the same
organism. If positive, the case could
be made that WNS was brought here by people who visited a cave in Europe and
then came to the US and visited Howe Caverns.
The Migration Patterns
After the video, several charts were put on the screen that showed the
migration and interaction routes of the bats as documented by tagging bats and
seeing how they migrate. The interaction patterns showed the bats mingling down
a main path from New York that paralleled the East Coast south through the
Virginias and then west into Kentucky. This was the main traffic route with
auxiliary routes going south to Tennessee and further and other auxiliary
routes coming up to Indiana from Kentucky. Sadly, Southern Indiana is not very
far from the main route going east / west through Kentucky.
The Spread
The next charts showed where WNS was known in 2006, 2007, and 2008. The
progress of the spread followed right along that main traffic pattern shown on
the charts. And while human transmission has been possibly documented in a
couple caves, WNS seems to be spreading rapidly right along the main migration
and interaction route that has been determined by research over the years. If
human transmission were a major factor, WNS should have shown up at several
places off of the main migration routes. Also, by looking at the distance it
has traveled since 2006, one could easily see that it could be in our state as
early as 2009 - 2010 hibernation period (this winter!), or almost certainly the
season after that. Not much time to do something about it!
Indiana Populations
Other charts showed info about the bat populations in Indiana, which are around
250,000 total (2007 estimate). Roughly 95% of our cave bats are the endangered
Indiana bats, and roughly 95% of those bats are in 30 caves in Indiana. And a
large portion of those bats (98%) are in 9 of those caves, with the other 21
caves containing 1000 or less each. Basically, our bats are mostly concentrated
in 9 caves... A comment was made during the slides that the Indiana bat was not
hit by WNS as quickly as the little browns. I was relieved t
