White Nose Syndrome Seen in NH Hibernating Bats

[Rattlesnake Gal]

News from the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department

White Nose Syndrome Seen in Bats in N.H. Hibernaculum
Residents Asked to Report Bats Seen Flying in Winter

Bat researchers monitoring New Hampshire's hibernating bats have found early signs of White Nose Syndrome.

Click here for the full story.

If you have found a dead bat and would like to send it to a laboratory for WNS testing, contact the Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program at NH Fish and Game at (603) 271-2461 to arrange for transportation. To collect a dead bat, place it in a plastic zipper bag, then in a second zipper bag, and freeze. In the outside bag, place a note stating where and when the bat was collected, by whom and anything else you observed about the bat. Although White Nose Syndrome is not known to affect humans, bats can transmit other diseases such as rabies, so always take the precaution of wearing thick gloves when handling a bat, whether it is dead or alive. Bats groom the fungus off before flying, so you will not see white fungus on a bat that leaves its hibernaculum.

[Pineedles]

I can't tell you the amount of fear some people have of these little guys, but honestly they are among some of the best friends we humans have. When I first heard of the detection of this ailment in caves in Albany, NY 2 years ago I was hoping that it wouldn't carry into CT until 2009. Now that I see it is in NH already I can see it's moving too fast!

On our property there are "bat houses" that were put up 70-80 years ago that are still there. I plan on erecting more this summer. If you don't like mosquitos, I would urge you to place a 1/2 dozen or more of these small simple "homes" for bats on your property. Thy are cheap to construct and will definitely impact the mosquito population in your area.

[Sunrise Point]

Pineneedles, where do you locate your bathouses? How high?

I am interested in trying this. Any information that you can pass along would be appreciated.

[Grant]

I had a problem with wasps/yellowjackets establishing hives in a bat house. I'm going to try hanging it again in the early spring. The White Nose news is a very bad omen, although not surprising given the proximity to the impacted populations in New York.

[Skip]

Gee, now I know what's wrong with my mother-in-law's nose!

[ITD]

Originally Posted by Skip

Gee, now I know what's wrong with my mother-in-law's nose!

You are a very brave man.

[Skip]

Originally Posted by ITD

You are a very brave man.

No, not really....she never has learned to use a computer, much less get on-line. Maybe it has something to do with her eye sight, she's always been blind as a ........ well, you know!

[Pineedles]

Originally Posted by Sunrise Point

Pineneedles, where do you locate your bathouses? How high?

I am interested in trying this. Any information that you can pass along would be appreciated.

Ours are hung 12' to 15' high on the side of pine trees, with the opening facing North. As I said these were hung before I was born, but I do see bats going into these houses, so no matter what the experts say (and they don't necessarily contradict this height) I'll be hanging our additional houses at this height.

[Seeker]

I put a couple up but have never seen any bats in them. I think they prefer my house or my neighbors as I've been called there to catch them. I let my wife catch them in our house. We let them go unharmed of course.

[upthesaukee]

found this website...seems to have a lot of good info for those who care about bats and bat houses.

http://www.batconservation.org/index.html

[ApS]

Originally Posted by Seeker

"...I put a couple up but have never seen any bats in them..."

I'd never checked for occupants in my bat house either. It's about the size of a largish shoe box, facing north, and 15' up on a tree about 30' from the cottage.

Then one summer day, the bat house completely emptied out of bats. There must have been 60+ bats, but now whirling around in a huge "bat tornado".

I have no idea why they suddenly left the bat house—and this occurred at Noon!

[rander7823]

Originally Posted by Acres per Second

I'd never checked for occupants in my bat house either. It's about the size of a largish shoe box, facing north, and 15' up on a tree about 30' from the cottage.

Then one summer day, the bat house completely emptied out of bats. There must have been 60+ bats, but now whirling around in a huge "bat tornado".

I have no idea why they suddenly left the bat house—and this occurred at Noon!

It is possible Gotham was in trouble

[Grant]

They say to give it a southern exposure, as the bats need the warmth. This was a challenge on our wooded property, so I chose a tall tree relatively close to the lake. I wanted it to be close to the path, so the kids could look up into it. I'm hoping it doesn't fill with yellow jackets again when I re-hang it this spring.

[Rattlesnake Gal]

I haven't noticed any bats this year at the island. We did see one in the restaurant next to Kevin's Cafe' at the Pier.

White Nose Syndrome Affects N.H. Bats this Summer; Peterborough Colony Decimated

New Hampshire. Fish and Game has teamed up with Vermont Fish and Wildlife to collect information on sick bats. If you find a dead bat this summer, or notice the absence of bats where they typically are seen in abundance, report it on the online reporting form hosted on the Vermont Fish and Wildlife website.

One of the traditional sights of summer may be less visible in New Hampshire this year. "The little brown bat - the one most affected -- is the bat we often see cruising over a pond, eating insects," Brunkhurst said, "Bats eat thousands of pounds of agricultural pests and nuisance species like mosquitoes every summer. It is very alarming to think how this huge drop in the bat population will ripple through the ecosystem, and possibly affect our food production and timber industries."

[Island Life]

Once we had dozens of bats emptying out of our barn at dusk each night. This year I've seen one bat in the barn all summer - very sad. Strangely, though, I've had a bat in my bedroom twice in 2 weeks. Knowing there were few if any other bats to join it, I just opened the window screen and left it open all night so it could find its way out.

One of my favorite activities used to be to drive my boat at dusk while the bats swooped around me.

[hilltopper]

I have a colony of at least 10 in my barn. This year I've found 2 dead/dying adults and 3 or 4 dead/dying bat pups under where the colony is located. Very sad indeed if this disease is to blame. I've submitted my findings via the Vermont Fish and Wildlife web page.

[Lakesrider]

On my house the siding is curling up due to the south west exposure. (Wood Lap Siding) I had about 20 bats living under the curled up wood last year. You could hear them stirring just after dusk. This year i stood outside and watched as they came out. Maybe 8 or 9. Add to the fact that Suissevale just sprayed for Mosquitos and they have a bit more flying around to do. I can hear them hit the house at around 5 am and scratchy-crawl back into the siding if I have my windows open. Hae to do it to them but I am having the siding replaced next year.....Sorry little fellas. I will put up bat houses in the trees next to the house in a few weeks. I am hoping to re-house/ relocate them before winter.
I found some bat house plans on the net and already have two built. I used rough cut lumber scraps from a mill. Not supposed to use pressure treated or planed wood. They need the roughness to grab onto. I was also going to rabbit in some grooves in the slats to help them out, but I was told not to, as this would catch debris and grow fungus.....?

[tis]

The scary thing is that you don't know if you get bit by one. We had a little one in our family have one in her room-hanging on her canopy-and they said at the hospital you can't tell if you are bit or not as you don't feel it and can't see it. So she went through the series of rabies shots. She was very scared, it was not a happy experience. Then the insurance would not pay for the shots as it had to be administered in the emergency room as the doctors offices don't have the vaccine.

[chipj29]

The bats have been very active in my neighborhood this year. In fact, I have been sitting in my recliner watching TV (recliner is in front of bay window), and can see the bats buzzing around looking for some supper. It has been fun watching them all, seems like more than ever are out there.

[Mirror Lake's BB]

I thought I would start a more current discussion on this problem. Here is an informative link on the subject:

http://www.fws.gov/whitenosesyndrome/#map

It appears that there isn't enough known about the disease and therefore there aren't any current 'cures'. Perhaps someone can add to this.

[Lakesrider]

All of the bats that were staying at my house, are gone. Haven't seen any flying around this year. Bad news.

[chipj29]

Originally Posted by Lakesrider

All of the bats that were staying at my house, are gone. Haven't seen any flying around this year. Bad news.

Same here. Haven't seen any this year, there used to be tons of them. Abutting neighbor logged his lot last spring, which may have affected the bats though.

[Bear Island South]

Our neighbor has a bat house that is usually full, it is completely empty this year.

[hilltopper]

I have a colony in my barn this year as ususal. If I had to guess there's around 8 or 9 of them. A few years ago that number was closer to 15.

[COWISLANDDONZI]

We usually have bats @ our place on Cow Island- NONE this year....