WV Bats Under Attack
VIDEO: Bats flying from Hellhole in Pendleton Co. WV in broad daylight in January. 15 bats exit cave in frigid temperatures the day after a major snowstorm; 13 gotten by raptors hanging around cave entrance for a quick meal. Click here to view.
Friends of Blackwater financed “Status Report on Little Brown Bat”delivered to the US Fish and Wildlife Service 12/16/10
Friends of Blackwater has been concerned about bat deaths since 2003 when huge numbers of bats were killed in Tucker County at the Mountaineer Industrial Wind Project. This concern increased when bats began dying by the thousands from White Nose Syndrome in 2006. This lethal fungus spread south from New York State and reached West Virginia in 2009. As the Status Review explains the little brown bat is severely impacted by both developments. Once the most common bat in the eastern US, the little brown could be extinct in 14 years. We are asking that the Service review the status of this bat and add it to the endangered species list asap!
Click here for the press release on the Status Report.
Click here for the Status Review Report
Click here for the Frick Research on the little brown bat.
Click here to see dead bats and birds at WV Industrial Wind Sites.
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STATUS MAP: WNS and BAT HIBERNATION AREAS.
The map to the right shows the status of White Nose Syndrome in known bat hibernation areas. Please click the map to view larger.
White-Nose Syndrome invades WV's Caves
Concerned Citizen Volunteers Do Bat Surveys!
WHITE NOSE SYNDROME IN HELLHOLE!
In a February 23, 2010 News Release the WV Department of Natural Resources and the US Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed that White Nose Syndrome has been found in Hellhole Cave in Pendleton County, WV. Privately owned and closed to the public for the last several years, Hellhole is the largest and most important bat cave in the state. An estimated 200,000 bats spend the winter hibernating in the cave. The cave is also important on a national level as it is designated critical habitat for two federally endangered species, the Indiana bat and the Virginia big-eared bat. Hellhole supports nearly 13,000 Indiana bats and 5,000 Virginia big-ears. This single cave supports more than 40 percent of the world’s entire hibernating population of Virginia big-eared bats.
For more information about WNS in Hellhole please click here.
White Nose Syndrome Fact Sheet
WHITE NOSE SYNDROME CONFIRMED IN WV BATS CLICK HERE TO READ ARTICLE FROM THE CHARLESTON GAZETTE ON FEBRUARY 25, 2009
Click here to read the article regarding White Nose Syndrome that appeared in the Charleston Gazette on February 22, 2009.
Click here to read the article regarding White Nose Syndrome that appeared in the Charleston Gazette on February 14, 2009
Citing a threat to bats from a new disease that is widespread, severe, and imminent, Friends of Blackwater has joined in coalition with other conservation organizations, including the Center for Biological Diversity and Heartwood, in petitioning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for immediate action to prevent further harm to endangered bats.
To read the petition click here.To read the press release click here.
To read the article that appeared in the Charleston Gazette please click here.
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