July 11, 2010 - Bye-bye Bats
Welcome to the Nature Notebook.

At this time of year young bats typically take their first flights, leaving the care of their moms to venture into the great big world to gain experience in flying and catching food. Those first flights can be somewhat ungainly for these novice fliers. Fewer bats are testing out their wings, however. Bat colonies are reeling under the impact of a mysterious malady that is causing an alarming die off. Bat biologists refer to it as white nose syndrome because of a white fungus that appears on the muzzle and face of bats. At present, it is unknown whether this fungus is a symptom or cause of bat deaths. Because white nose syndrome is spreading unchecked through colonial bat populations, it is possible that we just might face summer nights with no bats to devour pesky insects.

This is PPL's naturalist, Jon Beam, with the Nature Notebook for WVIA.