# What's this? Mysterious disease plagues bats. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 18, 2008, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-mysterious-disease-plagues-bats/438050 "2008-02-18T01:49:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-mysterious-disease-plagues-bats/438050/1 "2008-02-18T01:49:20Z")
[Story here.](http://www.ewire.com/display.cfm/Wire_ID/4499) Talk about riddles. Should we suspect foul play? This had better not be some kind of joke. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-mysterious-disease-plagues-bats/438050/2 "2008-02-18T05:11:07Z")
If it is, then the [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service](http://www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html) and [CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/30/tech/main3773409.shtml) are in on the joke. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-mysterious-disease-plagues-bats/438050/3 "2008-02-18T15:10:02Z")
[QUOTE=JThunder] [Story here.](http://www.ewire.com/display.cfm/Wire_ID/4499) Talk about riddles. Should we suspect foul play? This had better not be some kind of joke. [/QUOTE] I blame Riddler, Penguin, and Joker. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-mysterious-disease-plagues-bats/438050/4 "2008-02-18T15:45:26Z")
Well, isn’t that the cat’s meow? ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-mysterious-disease-plagues-bats/438050/5 "2008-02-18T21:11:30Z")
I pity those in the affected states! :eek: I hope they are willing to use DEET, and have plenty of it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-mysterious-disease-plagues-bats/438050/6 "2008-02-18T21:29:07Z")
IIRC, the thinking now is that the fungus a symptom, rather than the cause. It’s the climate – the warmer winters the past two years have roused the bats from hibernation too early, and with little food for them, they starve. Their immune systems thus are weakened, allowing the fungus to take hold. > [@Oneonta Daily Star](#): > > But Ward Stone, a wildlife pathologist with the DEC, said all of the bats he is seeing have a suppressed immune system, stemming from starvation. More tests are under way, but the problem appears to stem from a complex set of occurrences relating to climate change, he said. > > In the last two years, there have been periods of warmer-than-usual winter weather that have stirred the bats from hibernation, he said. > > When they are roused, “they burn up what little fat they have and they die of exposure,” he said. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2008, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-mysterious-disease-plagues-bats/438050/7 "2008-02-19T00:19:29Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] IIRC, the thinking now is that the fungus a symptom, rather than the cause. It’s the climate – the warmer winters the past two years have roused the bats from hibernation too early, and with little food for them, they starve. Their immune systems thus are weakened, allowing the fungus to take hold. [/QUOTE] Warmer winters? Climate change? I don’t see how that’s possible, if that were happening I’m sure we would have heard something about it before now. Won’t someone think of the bats?