Cavechat.org

deleted.

The first pic looked like a pretty typical group of muddy lucy's (little browns). They will congregate in small groups in the summer. Some of the flecks could have been mud or fungus. The second looked like a pip with WNS. Being January, it still had a ways to go. Also, body weights are hard to tell by size. I've picked up recently dead carcasses that looked normal size but had already dessicated.

Another point often sited is that the spread of WNS seems to follow the cave route. Well, has anyone every considered it follows the cave routes and appears first in more heavily visited caves because, well, there are more people there to observe what is going on. Seems like common sense to me.

If cave is full of bats with WNS and no one is there to observe it, does WNS really exist? Well, not according to the USFWS. You would think these people would be smart enough to realize that you don't know what you don't know. That doesn't mean it is not there. I wonder if anyone has done a statistical analysis of the number of sites visited, number of sites infected, number of bats, number of known sites NOT visited, etc. to see if the gaps between "jump" sites get filled in. Also, bats counts are usually only performed in "important" bat caves. That doesn't mean WNS can be transported between smaller unknown colonies. I have no clue where the bats that visit my house live every winter.

Interesting study on bat and bird deaths at wind turbines. I'm sure that the news that wind turbines kill bats is not news to most cavers. However, two of the dead bats caught my eye:

Two endangered Seminole bats carcasses were also found during the study, and were also believed to be migrating.

http://www.ydr.com/ci_18377006

The occasional Seminole bat has been noted in PA, although fairly rarely.

Their northern range is limited to a maximum latitude of 42° 27'. There have been some questionable reports of seminole bats in the southern portions of Wisconsin and New York, but these could have simply wandered out of their summer range.

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/s ... nolus.html

The other Missouri suspect site in the Ozarks is a gated bat cave with virtually no human traffic for years and years.

So far, no one has reported more WNS in Mo this year.