The [tag]New York State Department of Environmental Conservation[/tag] (DEC) has put out a press release concerning the spread of something termed “white nose syndrome” that appears to be the cause of death for thousands of bats in New York and Vermont. Both New York and Vermont are asking cavers to stay away from caves where bats hibernate:

Bat populations are particularly vulnerable during hibernation as they congregate in large numbers in caves – in clusters of 300 per square foot in some locations — making them susceptible to disturbance or disease. The vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of bats known to hibernate in New York do so in just five caves and mines. Because bats migrate as far as hundreds of miles to their summer range, impacts to hibernating bats can have significant implications for bats throughout the Northeast.

Indiana bats, a state and federally endangered species, are perhaps the most vulnerable. Half the estimated 52,000 Indiana bats that hibernate in New York are located in just one former mine – a mine that is now infected with white nose syndrome. Eastern pipistrelle, northern long-eared and little brown bats are also dying. Little brown bats, the most common hibernating species in the state, have sustained the largest number of deaths.

Here’s the website for [tag]Bat Conservation International[/tag] (BCI). They have very nice pictures. BCI is not to be confused with [tag]The Organization for Bat Conservation[/tag] (aka the [tag]Bat Zone[/tag]. There’s also [tag]Batworld[/tag], which has a very fine name.

Since you obviously want to know much, much more about bats, here’s a link to [tag]Walker’s Bats of the World[/tag] on googlebooks (check out the nice bat anatomy diagram on page 8, it’s a favorite in our household).

Last, but certainly not least, you really should read the delightful book, [tag]Bat Bomb: World War II’s Other Secret Weapon[/tag].

It was a crazy way to win World War II in the Pacific– All the United States had to do was to attach small incendiary bombs to millions of bats and release them over Japan’s major cities. As the bats went to roost, a million fires would flare up in remote crannies of the wood and paper buildings common throughout Japan. When their cities were reduced to ashes, the Japanese would surely capitulate… The plan made sense to a handful of eccentric promoters and researchers, who convinced top military brass and even President Roosevelt to back the scheme. It might have worked, except that another secret weapon–something to do with atoms–was chosen to end the war.

Told here by the youngest member of the team, this is the story of the bat bomb project, or Project X-Ray, as it was officially known. In scenes worthy of a Capra or Hawks comedy, Jack Couffer recounts the unorthodox experiments carried out in the secrecy of Bandera, Texas, Carlsbad, New Mexico, and El Centro, California, in 1942-1943 by “Doc” Adams’ private army. This oddball cast of characters included an eccentric inventor, a distinguished Harvard scientist, a biologist with a chip on his shoulder, a movie star, a Texas guano collector, a crusty Marine Corps colonel, a Maine lobster fisherman, an ex-mobster, and a tiger. Not to be defeated by minor logistical hurdles, the bat bomb researchers risked life and limb to explore uncharted bat caves and “recruit” thousands of bats to serve their country. Through months of personality conflicts, military snafus, and technical failures the team pressed on, certain that bats could end the war with Japan. And they might have–in their first airborne test, the bat bombers burned an entire brand-new military airfield to the ground. For everyone who relishes true tales of action and adventure, Bat Bomb is a must-read. Bat enthusiasts will also discover the beginnings of the scientific study of bats.

If you’re lazy, here’s the wikipedia page about the bat bomb project, but it won’t be the same. It’s a truly amazing tale.