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Workers find ways to fight bat fungus
April 6th, 2009 Workers find ways to fight bat fungusWednesday, April 1, 2009
By Edward Munger Jr.
Schenectday, NY Daily Gazette Reporter
DELMAR It's not clear how the white fungus found on dead bats relates to the massive bat die-off over the past three years, but state Wildlife Pathologist Ward Stone and a crew of interns have discovered several ways to kill it.
The work, focusing on disinfectants, temperature, bacteria and ultraviolet light, could lead to methods for disinfecting caving gear to ensure that humans aren't spreading the affliction.
It might also hold clues to bring scientists closer to stemming the spread of the white nose syndrome, which was first observed in New York with the discovery of thousands of dead bats in 2006.
The affliction has now spread to seven states, and the fungus, Stone said, is a newly discovered variety that doesn't have an official name yet.
So far, Stone said he has learned the fungus:
Dies in temperatures near 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Can survive indirect sunlight but dies when exposed to direct ultraviolet light.
Can be killed with some disinfectant products, such as Lysol.
"We set out to understand the biology and just get the basic information," then some people said, "we want to kill it," Stone said Tuesday at the state Wildlife Pathology Unit in Delmar.
Stone said he sent out detailed information regarding how to kill the fungus this week to caving organizations in a few states.
Intern Rob Hoyt, a wildlife management major at SUNY Cobleskill, began isolating bacteria found on a healthy brown bat and learned that one of those bacteria appears to kill the white fungus.
It's still unclear if the bacteria is typically found on bats or whether its absence has an impact on the bats' dying.
On Tuesday, Stone received a shipment of two incubators used to hatch eggs. Because of the high temperature they can reach, he's exploring using them as a means to rid caving equipment, cameras and other gear of the fungus to ensure that it isn't spread by cavers.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a notice last week asking people to stay out of caves in states where the syndrome was discovered as well as in adjoining states, a request that's garnered support in the caving community but not unqualified support.
The Northeastern Cave Conservancy board of directors met Sunday and decided to shut down caves they own until May 15, despite the federal request that people stay out of caves indefinitely.
Conservancy Vice President Peter Youngbaer said May 15 is the typical day caves are re-opened because it's believed that bats are done hibernating by then.
"Several of the [cavers] are not convinced that the science they're relying on really justifies staying out of the caves in the summertime. We don't think that's been clarified," Youngbaer said.
The federal request to stay out of caves doesn't have an expiration date, and the NCC hopes to continue its work to educate the public and protect land with caves beneath it, he said.
Dogwood City Grotto Journey to Ellison's
May 19th 2009
The Dogwood City Grotto journeyed back in time on May 16, 2009 when we visited Ellison’s Cave on Pigeon Mountain. We started our trip at the Blue Hole at the base of the Hill. Our historian, ET Davis described the beginnings of Pigeon Mountain when it was only a wrinkle on the bottom of a vast coral sea. He told us about how William Schreiber explored the cave long ago. Having been there himself, ET witnessed barroom chair-throwing fights among rival groups of explorers. ET’s history lesson pumped us up for the walk up the hill to the Historic Entrance.
We stopped first at the Dug Entrance, opened by Schreiber early on in his explorations. A group of Vertical cavers and their dog were gearing up to enter the cave there. We climbed up out of that ravine to the Old Wagon Road. This road dates back to before the Civil War and was used by Armies of both sides to cross the divide. We followed this old road to the Historic Entrance, which was known to Native Americans and visited by Confederate and Yankee Soldiers.
We climbed down into this picturesque sink and natural storm drain to enter Elliston’s cave. There had been a lot of rain on the mountain within the previous few days. Ben Philips and Ricky Hess were sent in first to see if the tunnels were even passable. The rest of our group followed the cave stream of muddy surface water. We were hoping to see some of the Giant Hellbender Salamanders known to live in the cave. None were seen; the amphibians were able to secret themselves in the pools of muddy water.
The stream we were following joined another stream. People had scratched and carved their names and other stuff into the soft wall vandalized this area extensively. Civil War Soldiers had done the same 150 years ago except their ancient etchings are now lost among the more recent vandalism.
We followed this larger stream down into the mountain as it dropped over several waterfalls. The ceiling got lower and lower until we were crawling. The early explorers named this tunnel “The Agony.” Someone heard Ben tell Ricky, “I hope this is the way or we’re got a lot of mad cavers behind us.” The Agony turned into a belly crawl in water. Near the end, cold water was pouring on us from above too. We popped out through a refreshing waterfall into an amazingly beautiful walking tunnel, “The Ecstasy.”
Especially after the Agony, stepping over boulders in this wide cheerful place felt great. There were a lot of bats on the ceiling in the Ecstasy tunnel. Those furry little flyers know the best places to hang out. Downstream at the end of the tunnel we could hear the deep grumble of the water falling 150 feet down into Warmup Pit.
The Vertical Cavers had preceded us and their ropes were tied to the ceiling by hangers stamped “DCG.” Our group skirted the lip of Warmup Pit and into a tunnel there. This tunnel eventually got so low and small that Ricky was unable to body-drill the muddy groove.
We retraced the Ecstasy to the waterfall of the Agony. Climbing up the waterfall we popped out of the Dug Entrance into a pouring rainstorm. The vertical cavers had left their dog outside the cave tied to a rock by the Entrance. Some of our cavers felt sorry for the beast being out in the weather so they created a little sweater out of their survival trash bag. They also made him a lean-to; we of course were out in the pouring rain, water leaking out the drain-holes in the bottoms of our boots. Poison Ivy with leaves as big as your hand crowded the sloppy muddy trail down the hill. The rain stopped just in time for us to change into our dry clothes at the trucks.
The Cavers:
Greg Long, Ken Brown, Codie Long, E.T. Davis, Laila Anderson, Steve Kennerly
Jason S. Kotz, Elizabeth Boyle, John Carter, Dianne Overmyer, Renata Piurko, Matt Connolly, Lisa Andrews, Sean Blass, Kelly Rowland, Glen Fell, Ben Philips, Tony Theirault, The Anderson, William Bishop, Kenneth Paicott, Page Ashnell, Lynn Buffkin, Cristy Fletcher, Michael Johnson, Debbie Hess, Ricky Hess, Al Hess.
-- Story from Al Hess