While humans from 210 countries face COVID-19, North American bats are facing a pandemic of their own

White Nose Syndrome

What is this heckin white fuzz & what does it do to our wing floofs' snoots?

A thread 1/

USFWS

The common name is kinda cute, but the scientific name is foreboding: Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd)

It is a fungus that grows on exposed bat skin while they're hibernating, which includes their noses, feet, & wings 2/

Ryan von Linden / NYDEC

Pd thrives in cold, damp places

As it happens, "cold" & "damp" both describe the areas where bats hibernate & Pd spores can grow there even when bats are not present 3/

https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/static-page/the-fungus

K.Keel / Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study

So Pd is a fungus. Got it. But what does it DO to bats?

Well, when bats hibernate their body temps & heart rates plummet in order to conserve energy. They have precious little fat reserved bc of their diminutive size, & it must last to the end of their hibernation 4/

Pd, when visible, looks like a white fuzz (hence the name White Nose Syndrome)

It attacks & irritates the bats' skin, which causes their bodies to warm up, their heart rates to increase, awakening them from their torpid state

This is costly. VERY costly. 5/

Researchers in this study found that the little brown myotis, when aroused from hibernation, burned through 108 mg of fat, an amount that would have lasted 68 DAYS in their torpid state 6/

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1381967?seq=1

With the bats awake in the dead of winter with little access to food or water, it doesn't take long for them to become dehydrated, starved, & all too often, to die

Colonies have been found 90 - 100% wiped out by WNS, & over 6 million bats have died since its discovery in '06 7/

Humans cannot get White Nose Syndrome, nor can non-hibernating bats, nor again do ALL hibernating bat species actually get WNS, but this leaves the question:

What can we do for the bats that DO get it? How can we slow its spread & save bats? 8/

Enter the White Nose Syndrome Response Team, an effort by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to form a united front against WNS. Teams of scientists & researchers are working around the clock to get a handle on WNS & find a cure for North American bats 9/

If you want to find out more about White Nose Syndrome, what you can do, or what is already being done, visit their website

This thread is only the tip of the White Nose Iceberg 10/

https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/ 

Something you can do immediately is share this thread!

Go to https://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/static-page/brochures-postcards-and-fact-sheets to download infographics, posters, & fact sheets to share with friends & family

And if you've made it this far: thank you!!

YOU are the hooman partner that the wing floofs need 11/11

P.S. WNS has been found on bats in Europe & Asia, but they don't seem to get sick like North American bats

This probably means they have developed an immunity to it, & we have evidence that North American bats may be doing the same thing 12/11 https://news.umich.edu/first-genetic-evidence-of-resistance-in-some-bats-to-white-nose-syndrome-a-devastating-fungal-disease/