In almost perfectly uncanny timing, a fugus that has been shown to be deadly to bats has been found in Southern California on Halloween. This fungus has already killed millions of bats across North America but was not previously seen in Southern California. Tests have now revealed that the fungus can be found in several counties around the lower part of the west coast state. Last year, the Department of Fish and Wildlife did detect the fungus in Northern California counties, most prominently Humboldt County. This year it appeared in four other counties in Northern and Central California. Now, it is present in seven other counties, including Southern California’s San Diego and San Bernardino counties.
The fungus has been detected on multiple bat species.
Thus far there have not been any reports on the death of any of the bats with the fungus on them, but experts expect illnesses to rise in the next couple of years with deaths rising shortly thereafter. The specific illness coming from the fungus is known as the “white-nose syndrome.” It develops when the fungus fully invades the bats’ skin cells. It can be visibly seen on the bat as they will get white fuzz on their faces and their wings are damaged. Additionally, their behavior alters as they often will end their winter hibernation early when they are infected, despite water and food sources being scarce.
The diseased fungus is known as Pseudogymnoascus destructans.
Most often the part that kills the bats is the fact that they end hibernation early when infected. As a result, due to the limited resources, they will die from dehydration. Because of this fungus and deadly disease, scientists have been studying bats when they emerge from their hibernation to see if they are diseased.
At this time experts are advising that humans can spread the fungus, but they have no related illnesses that may arise from it.
While humans cannot get sick from the fungus, its presence still largely affects us. Bats are an incredibly important part of our ecosystem, especially with agriculture. Because they consume bugs, they serve as nature’s bug and pest control which directly helps with crop growth. If we reach a point in which the bat populations severely decreases more than it already has, we could then see a trickledown effect occur with fewer crops growing due to the insects and other pests having access to them. Furthermore, as gross as it sounds, a bat’s poop acts as one of the best fertilizers which helps the crops grow in the first place. So, we could see a cut down on crops due to less growing from less fertilizer and more dying from insects eating at them.