Bat deaths reported at New Jersey site

A day after Pennsylvania officials confirmed the presence of a fungus linked to the deaths of tens of thousands of bats in New England, New Jersey officials yesterday revealed that the situation was much worse on their side of the river.

Hundreds of bats are dying at two Morris County caves that in winter are home to the state's two largest hibernating bat populations. The populations had looked fine in November.

In late December, Mick Valent, principal zoologist for the state Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Fish and Wildlife, picked up several bats that had fallen to the ground. They later died in rehabilitation.

By Jan. 13, outside the largest site, the Hibernia Mine, bats that should have been inside in a torpor had awakened, emerged, and were flying, Valent said.

Gathering hawks were picking them off. Other bats were dropping to the ground, dead and emaciated.

Inside the cave, dead bats littered the floor. All had a white fungus around their muzzles - the signature of what has become known as white-nose syndrome.

This means that in all likelihood, Pennsylvania will soon see deaths as well.

And if the mortality of nature's insect-eating champions creeps high enough, it could have a major effect on this summer's backyard bug and crop pest populations.

If it continues, in years to come "we're going to start paying a fortune for a tomato," said Carlos Iudica, a Susquehanna University biology professor and cochair of an interstate, inter-agency committee investigating the problem.

White-nose syndrome started in the winter of 2006-07 in New York. It then spread into Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut. In some sites, virtually all the bats died.

Researchers figured - and feared - that New Jersey would be next. And Pennsylvania, perhaps, after that.

So far, they know little other than that the fungus and the deaths occur together. Whether the fungus is a symptom or a cause, biologists can't tell.

What they do know is that bats begin to hibernate with just enough body fat to get through the winter - one of the biggest gambles in their lives, said Iudica. Bat die-offs are common if it's a longer-than-normal winter.

"Many animals, in their own silent way, die in their hibernacula," he said.

What's different about white-nose syndrome is that the bats awaken prematurely, sap their reserves, then fly out in search of food. But with no insects around in winter, their flight is a death sentence.

Pennsylvania officials discovered the fungus in a Mifflin County cave in December, and noted that the bats were moving closer to the mouth of the cave. But because there have been no die-offs yet, they were unsure how it fit into the puzzle of white-nose.

But now, Bucknell University biologist and bat expert DeeAnn Reeder predicts deaths will follow in Pennsylvania as well, if not this year, certainly next.

Their winter flight "really is a last-ditch effort on the part of these bats to survive," she said. "It's tough to look at these animals and have them in your hand and put them back on the wall and realize that they're going to die."

What worries her is that bats are highly migratory - flying up to 60 miles in just a few days. So populations are continually intermingling, she said.

And when they hibernate, they cluster tightly, as many as 200 to 300 bats in the space of a few square feet.

Such conditions are ideal, she said, for the spread of pathogens.

Although New Jersey's Valent estimated that there were several hundred dead bats at Hibernia, he said the number could be much higher, given that the hawks were feeding and that many others might be dying in the countryside far from the mines.

Officials in both states have asked people who see dead or day-flying bats during cold weather to report it.

In Pennsylvania, they may call the Southeastern office of the Game Commission at 610-926-3136. In New Jersey, a 24-hour Department of Environmental Protection hotline is at 1-877-WARN-DEP.