Die-off of bats mystifies experts

[flashl]

Biologists are stumped by a plague that has killed tens of thousands, and perhaps hundreds of thousands, of bats this year in Northeastern states.

The cause of "white-nose syndrome," so named because of the white fungus that appears on bats' noses and wings, remains a mystery. And the plague is still killing bats, alarming scientists who had considered it a winter syndrome.

"The surprise for us has been finding out that bats are still dying," says biologist Susi von Oettingen of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service office in Concord, N.H. Biologists combing summertime roosts report finding six species of bats affected by the syndrome in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut, she says.

...

One bat can eat more than a pound of night-time insects in a week. White-nose syndrome threatens the endangered Indiana bat, Darling says, and agricultural pest numbers may explode without bats.

USA Today

[paparush]

1. Gods..its going to be us and the cockroaches..everything else will be extinct.

Then WE'LL be extinct as the roaches will exact their revenge with cold, calculated, confidence.

[qazplm]

2. now they wont extinct us

they need something to eat!

They will farm us.

I for one welcome our Slimy Overlords.