Photo: 2005, New Mexico’s Wondrous Carlsbad Caverns At Sunset
I have been a fan and observer of bats
Since my childhood days, now long ago
I’ve spent many a sunset in their company
In northern areas and down in New Mexico
I recently traveled to a small northern cave
I have been visiting this one, for many years
I always enjoyed observing its bats at sunset
But on this journey, only empty skies were here
Millions of bats in the Northeast and in the Midwest
Have already perished from ‘White-Nose Syndrome’*
These mammals will be sorely missed by human beings
For eons, they kept insects in check, on our earthly home
A single bat could consume 1,000 insects, in a single night
Their favorite food was a pesky insect we call the mosquito
Without these bats, many more humans, will be getting sick
Mosquitoes are spreading West Nile Virus, wherever they go
I sat outside this cave at sunset, no longer seeing my bat friends
A sense of sadness at their absence soon filled my heart and soul
So much has changed for the worse, since I arrived on this planet
I now rarely see many of the wonders of nature that I saw long ago
*White-Nose Syndrome is a poorly understood disease associated with the deaths so far of at least 6 to 7 million North American bats. This condition, named for a fungal growth around their muzzles and on their wings, was first identified in a cave in New York in February 2006. It has spread very rapidly since then, and as of today, it has been found in over 115 caves and mines ranging throughout the Northeast and the Midwest, and it is already killing bats as far south as Alabama, as far west as Missouri, and as far north as Canada.
And 1,600 U.S. cases of West Nile Virus, including 66 deaths, have now been reported through late August this year, the highest human toll reported since this mosquito-borne disease was first detected in our nation in 1999. The toll is now quickly rising partly because these bats are now dying, and "we think the numbers will continue to rise," says Dr. Lyle Petersen, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases.
I recently traveled to a small northern cave,
I have been visiting this one for many years;
I always enjoyed observing its bats at sunset,
But on this journey, only empty skies were here.
©An Extremely Sad August Sunset in 2012, Mr. Ed
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We should all pray for them...
Lady Vivian
Bat's are our super hero's. I hope someone finds a cure soon ~
Lady Mary Ann
Ron
hear about WNS...Thanks Ed!
Deborah
Anna
I'm nuts, but I don't care I have also
rescued little bats (wearing thick gloves)
and brought them home. One did not want
to leave and kept flying inside my house.
Cats loved that, so I had a little heart
to heart talk with the bat and told him
he was being suicidal with my cats!
I also visited Carlsbad Caverns many
times and loved to watch them fly out
at night. Since I was close and lived
in California.
I do hope a cure is found for this
white nose syndrome :(
Keep me updated please.
Love and Light
Lily