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North American bats: white-nose syndrome update (1 Viewer)

With threats to bats and their role in pest control, and threats to bees and their role in pollination. What will happen when crops fail, and the jobs that go with that industry are lost? There's a rocky road ahead for the US and therefore for the rest of us... what a time to be born. Like turning on the tv and the film's almost over.

Twite.
 
Please remember that the European honey bee is just that...European. We did fine without it until crops that need it were introduced. Now many assume its indespensible. Chytrid...bd...was of African origin and has already done most of its damage in North America, save some places. G. destructans...cause of WNS...is a big unknown and hopefully isn't of European origin. YOu don't know what ya got till its gone. HOpefully the bats will be around for years to come.
 
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There is some belief that researchers helped spread the chytrid fungus that exterminated so much of the frog diversity on their muddy boots.
It seems plausible that we are doing it again to the bats. Researchers visiting every cave to check and leaving a dusting of fungal spores behind from the previous site visited.
 
If the crops fail, jobs will be the least of our concerns. . ..

I actually said when crops fail, not when the crops fail. The implied difference is, some but not all crops. I had in mind fruit crops, oranges in Florida, almonds in California, all dependent on 'bee contractors' who are losing their hibernating stock at an alarming rate.

But yes, as you say if the crops fail jobs will be the least of our concerns.

Anyway, the aliens or god (FSM) or something will not let us come to any harm. There must be great comfort in that for idiots.

I just believe that this point we're all ******.

Twite.
 
There is some belief that researchers helped spread the chytrid fungus that exterminated so much of the frog diversity on their muddy boots.
It seems plausible that we are doing it again to the bats. Researchers visiting every cave to check and leaving a dusting of fungal spores behind from the previous site visited.
Beyond a doubt on chytrid. On the old fieldherpforum site there were some interesting debates/discussions about researchers bringing chytrid on boots and several were less than happy about admitting to it. It's just one of those 'learning experiences' that biologists/ecologists learn not to do, but should have been explored much earlier. Hindsight is 20/20.
Bats and WNS is a similar story, but the jury is still out on whether it's human transmitted. If you check the caves.org website and go to the forums, there are some good discussions on whether humans transmit G. destructans. Most cavers have a vested interest in it not being transmitted obviously, but we also need to recognize that without them, we would be clueless about WNS to begin with. Cavers may or may not have gotten us into this mess, but we need them to get out of it. (JMHO)
 
I actually said when crops fail, not when the crops fail. The implied difference is, some but not all crops. I had in mind fruit crops, oranges in Florida, almonds in California, all dependent on 'bee contractors' who are losing their hibernating stock at an alarming rate.

But yes, as you say if the crops fail jobs will be the least of our concerns.

Anyway, the aliens or god (FSM) or something will not let us come to any harm. There must be great comfort in that for idiots.

I just believe that this point we're all ******

Fair enough. I was misled by the apocalyptic tone of your post as a whole & over-generalized the remark about jobs. However, I’m still much less worried about the prospects of the bee industry than I am about the plight of native bats.

As far as humankind being ******* in general is concerned, you’re probably right, as I don’t see effective action on the really big problems--exploding human population sizes, global warming--being taken anytime soon. [What we need now is for a certain cheery person to come along & point out yet again that evolution is evolution & all we can do about it is go with the flow ;)].
 
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I work intimately around caves in the Kickapoo and surrounding area. I keep a distance of at least 50 m away from them, and use a sulphur powder on my boots every once in a while.
I hope that this is enough of a precaution... but can anyone suggest anything else I could do?
I don't work with the bats, but I do work with Black-capped Vireos that can live quite close to them.
 
Keeping that distance should be more than enough. In fact, I'd encourage you to infrequently walk near (not less than 25 m.?) caves to see if there is any evidence of dead bats on the ground, bats flying during sunny weather, or other strange bat activity...if it's legal to do that. The only way to find signs of a problem is to see them, for the most part.
For more info, you can go to caves.org and read some of the decontamination info there...there are pages of it. Also, I think there is an expert on WNS that drops by this site every now and then.
 
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