Scientists studying bat species that have been hit hard by the fungus that causes white nose syndrome say there is a glimmer of good news against the disease that has killed millions of bats.
Deep in a cool, damp cave in Vermont, tens of thousands of furry, chocolate brown creatures stir.
“That’s really significant, because it seems to be a stronghold where these bats are mostly surviving and then spreading out throughout New England in the summer,” said Alyssa Bennett, a small mammal biologist for the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife. She has studied bats and white nose syndrome for more than a decade.
It's unclear how far the numbers dropped after the fungus set in, but biologists who visited in 2009 or 2010 noted the ground in front of the cave was carpeted with dead bats. Scientists have known for years that some little brown bats seemed to survive being exposed to the fungus, despite an overall mortality rate that was feared could eradicate them. Though Dorset's little brown bats are holding on, other once common species found with them, like northern long eared or tricolor bats, are almost impossible to detect there now, Bennett said.
“I’m feeling pretty comfortable," Turner said. "We’re not going to be stuck staring down the barrel of extinction.”
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