World Bat Day!
- osstewardship
- Apr 17
- 1 min read
Today we want to celebrate all of our insect eating superheroes along with some amazing work that is being done to help them out.
Ove the last several years, White-Nose syndrome (WNS) has been damaging certain bat populations across North America. This syndrome is a fungal issue that affects bats during their hibernation. It irritates their skin to the point that they wake up in the middle of winter and since they don't have access to food and they need to spend so much energy keeping warm, the bats end up dying. This fungus affects certain species of bats, like Little brown bats and Yuma bats.
However recently, amazing research is being done to help counter WNS. Labs across North America including TRU, McMaster's University in Ontario and several other partners have come together to test a probiotic that could help prevent or slow the spread of the fungus. This research is still in progress, but it is exciting to see research being done to help these incredible critters. Hopefully in the future, the worry behind WNS will be a thing of the past.
It was really interesting to learn about World Bat Day and the research helping protect bats from White-Nose Syndrome. After reading wildlife stories like this, I usually relax with Idols Of Ash which is a fantasy strategy game filled with mysterious creatures and immersive adventures.