Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

The state game commission is looking for help in collecting information about bats. Commission biologists say the monitoring is especially important because of mortality rates in bat populations in the eastern United States being caused by white-nose syndrome. Wildlife biologist Nate Zalik says people can help them more fully gauge the impact of white-nose syndrome by hosting a bat count this summer. He says it would be a good project for scout groups, 4-H clubs and local environmental organizations, as well as individual homeowners. “We are especially urging people who have previously conducted a bat count for the Game Commission to participate again this year. Sites monitored for many years are valuable in assessing bat population trends. However, we also are interested in receiving reports from new surveyors and sites, as identifying the location and size of colonies of WNS survivors is important," Zalik said. “The little brown bat and the big brown bat are the two species ...

HARRISBURG – As Pennsylvania Game Commission wildlife biologists continue to monitor bat hibernacula, the number of sites where bats have been confirmed infected or dying from White Nose Syndrome (WNS) has risen to six. The sites are two abandoned mines near Carbondale, Lackawanna County; an abandoned mine near Shickshinny, Luzerne County; and the abandoned Shindle Iron Mine, Aitkin Cave and Seawra Cave in Mifflin County. “We continue to receive information from local residents, as well as landowners with caves and old mine entrances on their properties,” said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director. “We’re asking people who encounter five ore more dead or dying bats in an area to contact us, as we’d really like to know about these types of incidents. “However, we don’t want people to go out of their way by going in caves or mines or underground. Also, do not handle bats – dead or alive – and keep children and pets away from grounded bats. Even though there currently are no kn...

A mysterious disease wiping out thousands of bats in the Northeast has Pennsylvania naturalists worried. The dead bats are found with a white fungus around their noses, and the ailment is being called white-nose syndrome. Federal officials say it killed 8,000 to 11,000 bats in New York State last year. So researchers are closely monitoring one of Pennsylvania's largest bat caves in upper Bucks County. So far, no white nose has been seen, but researchers say Pennsylvania is not in the clear because the disease spread from four caves in New York to caves all across the Northeast, and no one knows where it will go next.