In our area, Licia from the Discovery Center is the expert on bats, and she has directed local summer bat surveys for about six years now. You have read posts and seen maps here, showing results of the bat surveys around Carlin Lake which John and I and Bob and Judy have conducted.
We have all been aware--and concerned--that white-nose syndrome has been making its way west across the US, spreading toward Wisconsin. Now, Licia informs us that at least one area bat has been positively identified with white-nose syndrome. As you remember, once a bat cave becomes infected, all bats in that cave will probably die.
(Here's a link to the US Geological Survey if you want a little more info.)
http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/white-nose_syndrome/
Licia says she has received several calls from people who have seen active bats, in daytime, in the Mercer/Bessemer area, much too early for them to be awake from hibernation.
Here, she provides a sobering quote from a biologist from the US Fish and Wildife Survey:
It is far too early for the bats to emerge. It has nothing to do with the unusually warm early spring. They have roused from hibernation to fight WNS infection, but they are going to starve or freeze to death. Not enough bugs are out yet for them to meet their caloric needs. We are witnessing the mass die-off that has been predicted for so many years. This is it folks; This is a truly tragic event that is occurring before our eyes. And we are powerless to stop it.
My advice: imprint these images of those daytime bats in your minds’ eye because we won’t see many bats ever again. At least not in our lifetimes.
How very sad! I will share more info as Licia passes it on to us. Does this mean that we better prepare for mosquito-ridden summers ahead?