Associated Press WNS Story

[PYoungbaer]

AP reporter Wilson Ring weighs in with this story on developing research by Craig Willis at the University of Winnipeg:

http://online.wsj.com/article/AP0c401c80a5d74f749c42d17ee9c43fda.html

Willis has one of the major US Fish and Wildlife Service grants from last year:

Evaluating the pathogenecity of North American and European strains of Gd in cave bats, tree bats, and other mammalian hibernators
Craig Willis, Ph.D., University of Winnipeg; David Blehert, Ph.D. and Paul Cryan, Ph.D., US Geological Survey; Vikram Misra, Ph.D., University of
Saskatchewan; and DeeAnn Reeder, Ph.D., Bucknell University.

It is unfortunate that the published Wall Street Journal story (and as it appeared in other media outlets through the AP wire service) contained grammatical errors in the paragraph describing the Wisconsin situation. Some words are missing, and it appears that the writer intended to say that the Wisconsin designation of Geomyces destructans as an invasive species allows Wisonsin DRN to work with "property (owners to) determine" the best management of the site. In reality, there was nothing preventing DNR from working with property owners prior to the designation; what the designation did was to give DNR the ability to manage private property over the objections of the property owners, a heavy-handed approach that caused quite a controversy.

The Wisconsin situation notwithstanding, Craig Willis has been one of the leading WNS researchers, and a long-time leading bat researcher known for his work, his students' work, and his collaborations with other professionals.

[BrianC]

http://online.wsj.com/article/AP0c401c80a5d74f749c42d17ee9c43fda.html Some words are missing, and it appears that the writer intended to say that the Wisconsin designation of Geomyces destructans as an invasive species allows Wisonsin DRN to work with "property (owners to) determine" the best management of the site. In reality, there was nothing preventing DNR from working with property owners prior to the designation; what the designation did was to give DNR the ability to manage private property over the objections of the property owners, a heavy-handed approach that caused quite a controversy.

Though I did not see that insinuation in this article, I would say that that is certainly their goal! I also see that all researches involving White Nose Syndrome are quickly reaching some goals in the light of the recent news that some bats are returning to hard hit areas. This would reflect certain a strategy to quickly line up for more financial incentive's.


I could say with simple hypothetical inquiries, that WNS first arrived in Europe from North America, where it quickly decimated some susceptible European bats, then those same bats recovered in time! Now, we face
similar circumstances and our bats are quickly becoming adaptable to a similar fungus. I only say this because the USFWS made the assumption that the fungus first came from Europe. No spinning over and beyond what they surmised!

[wyandottecaver]

soooo.... WNS originated in US (despite never being found previous or found in any location other than current infection sites), suddenly left our bats alone.... went to Europe a LOOONG time ago... nearly wiped out their bats, leaving only the few (larger) survivors.... and is now returning to wreak havoc here....but its OK because since all the bats in Europe didn't die of WNS (though likely multiple SPECIES did) we will still have *some* bats left in US when its all over. Yep, thats one hypothesis.