Bats Surveyed In Anticipation Of Fungal Disease
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) - Researchers are surveying bat populations across Colorado so they can detect any declines that may be caused by a fatal fungal disease called white-nose syndrome.
Colorado State University and Colorado Parks and Wildlife researchers have been trapping and tagging bats in anticipation of the arrival of the fungus, which has killed millions of bats since it was identified in New York in 2006.
White-nose syndrome typically is found on bats' muzzles and is thought to kill them by waking them during hibernation, leaving them in a weakened state.
Jeremy Siemers, a zoologist at CSU, is asking property owners in Colorado to contact him at jsiemers@colostate.edu if they have a sizable bat population in places like an attic or a barn.
No infected bats have been found in Colorado.
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