OH-Brown Bat Question

[elemay17]

I live in northern Ohio, we have had bats living in our barn since we moved in almost 3 years ago and have never seen a dead one , this past week, there have been 5 dead bats. We find them on the ground still alive or climbing on the lower barn beams, they are still able to climb and are "squeaking" so my husband has been picking them up with an old towel and placing them on the side of the barn out of the cats reach hoping they would crawl back up to where they came from or fly away but the next day they are always back on the ground dead. Anyone know of a disease going around or what might be happening? We hate to see them die, they are good bug hunters. I thought maybe they were baby bats- kinda like the baby birds falling out of the nest, but I read bats only have 1 baby at a time, these seem smaller than the ones we see flying around at night but it could just be my imagination. TIA! (I don't think its the cats, they are not THAT good of hunters! :) )

[Thyme]

West nile virus from mosquitos is killing bats, & birds in northern ohio. Contact your county health dept. Ours will take a dead bat & send it away for testing to see if it is west nile. I to am in northern ohio.

[SpoonBread]

My guess is that it's the White Nose Syndrome that is spreading south and west from there. It's has an extremely high fatality rate and is killing off colonies left and right. No one really knows the cause or how to stop it. I know here in IN they are closing alot of the pubilc caves to try to slow the progress of it. We don't have it yet but they figure it will be here in a year or so. From what I understand, when they are found dead they have a white ring around their nostrels, I guess you could check the next time you find one dead. no matter what it is I agree with Thyme that you should contact either your health dept or your local dept of fish and wildlife.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_nose_syndrome

http://www.greenrightnow.com/kabc/2009/07/01/bats-threatened-by-white-nose-syndrome/

[elemay17]

Thanks! I think there is still one laying out behind the barn, i will have to check it out when i get home. We had talked about calling the dept. of wildlife, I will have to look them up. Thanks again :)

[333]

Peace,

Well this is funny cause I have a decent size colony in my attic and now have found three as you describe, trapped them and released but they are found again on the ground or at my door, sooooo. I hope they are not rabid or contagious. This is in upstate NY.

333

[daffodil]

Rabies was my thought. Best to get them tested.