Deep Dive: Outdoor Lab part two, bats and white-nose syndrome in Glacier
HAILEY SMALLEY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 month, 1 week AGO
Daily Inter Lake reporter Hailey Smalley returns to talk with host Taylor Inman about the final story in her Outdoor Lab series - a night spent with Glacier National Park biologist Lisa Bate at her annual "Going Batty" event.
Bate, a bird researcher who has expanded into bat surveys, walked Hailey through why bats matter to the ecosystem and the growing threat of white nose syndrome, a fungal disease first identified in New York in 2006 that can kill between 70 and 90 percent of an infected colony.
The fungus has already been detected near Libby Dam, and researchers are field testing a vaccine on microchipped bats as a possible defense before it reaches Glacier's colonies.
Hailey also describes the mist-netting and species identification process firsthand, including catching one of only a handful of big brown bats researchers have recorded in the park.
Learn more about USGS project site for the white-nose syndrome vaccine: White-nose Syndrome Vaccine Updates
If you haven't already, go back and listen to our companion episode covering the snow algae and bumble bee stories: Watermelon Snow and Bumble Bee Detectives: Part One of the Deep Diveinside the Outdoor Lab Series
READ MORE:
Outdoor lab: Researchers tap into Glacier's snowfields to uncover mystery of colorful algae
Outdoor lab: Glacier bumble bee study explores population declines
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