The state of TN just requested a change of status for the last several caves that had been listed as confirmed for WNS. The status has been changed
back to "likely". The reason is because the bats that were found with a white fungus showed no signs of the disease. Only the two caves in East
Tennessee that are near a confirmed Virginia hibernacula remain on the confirmed list. The bat in Dunbar cave was a loner of a different species.
It seemed to have arrived from far off. Interestingly there had been a lot of high winds preceding it's arrival. There had been caver/science students
in the cave off and on, yet there is still no GD. The lone WNS bat was removed. Maybe it was removed in time to prevent spreading the disease.
It will be interesting to see if Dunbar's status as well as the other caves will be returned to confirmed after this winter. It will also be interesting to
learn if more infected bats of an uncommon species arrived in the cave during this winter. Might depend on how windy this winter is, you think?
There are thousands of caves in TAG that have been continuously visited by cavers since way before and after 2006 and they still have no WNS. Gee how
can that be, if cavers spread the disease? Well, maybe it's because cavers don't spread the disease. The infected bats from up North just haven't
migrated that far South yet. And maybe if we are all lucky, the disease may not be able to develop as far South as TAG. Probably wishful thinking,
but I for one are still hopeful.