Family-Outdoors

Illinois becomes 20th state in U.S. to confirm deadly disease in bats A little brown bat with white-nose syndrome. Photo courtesy Ryan von Linden/New York Department of Environmental Conservation Springfield, IL - The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) today confirmed the presence of White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), a disease fatal to several bat species, in four Illinois counties. The University of Illinois’ Natural History Survey (INHS), the United States Forest Service (USFS)-Shawnee National Forest, the University of Illinois' Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UIVDL), and the USGS National Wildlife Health Center-Madison, WI (NWHC) assisted in the discovery of WNS which was detected in LaSalle County in north-central Illinois, Monroe County in southwestern Illinois, and Hardin and Pope Counties in extreme southern Illinois.  Little brown bats and northern long-eared bats from these counties were submitted to the UIVDL and NWHC in early-to-mid February 2013....

Little brown bat with white-nose syndrome  (Photo credit: Wikipedia) MADISON –  White Nose Syndrome, the fungus that causes a deadly bat disease, has been confirmed in an Iowa cave popular among cavers. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources confirmed today that recent surveillance efforts for the bat disease White Nose Syndrome (WNS) detected the fungus on a bat at Maquoketa Caves State Park in northwest Iowa, just 30 miles from Wisconsin and within easy flying distance of bats dispersing from this cave. Wisconsin bat officials urge people to take steps required to avoid spreading the fungus when visiting caves or other underground sites in and around Wisconsin. “Wisconsin cavers and cave owners have worked hard with us to take actions to protect bat populations,” says Jennifer Schehr-Redell, a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources cave and mine specialist. “Now we need everyone to follow the rules for decontaminating and moving gear to save our cave bats...