Finding out now how important bats are - and some things from my yard

[Bramblefind]

Yesterday I found this 1943 P War Nickel in my back yard and recently found a 1903 (this one sometimes looks like 1902 but I think is is 1903) Barber dime there too

Also what I think is a piece of a Victorian sash buckle -

Also I realize this might not be the best forum for this topic but it is something I've only recently started becoming aware of and it does impact the treasure hunting community here in the US.

Yesterday at dusk I was inside looking out a window toward the sky and talking to my 6 y/o. I believe I saw a bat fly by in the distance and I told him. He then said that he had never seen a bat.

I've heard bits and pieces of the "White Nose Fungus" killing off the bats but I haven't really paid attention until this spring when I have been trying to get in some evening metal detecting and the mosquitos are just unbearable.

My son and I did some research and found a stat that a single bat eats as many as 3,000 mosquitos in ONE night!

I am near "ground zero" for where the fungus was first discovered. I am going to try to pay more attention to see if I can spot any more bats flying. I believe the fungus is still spreading across the country so many of you might not be aware of it.

Does anyone know if the bat populations are starting to come back in any of the areas that have already been hit?

http://www.fws.gov/whitenosesyndrome/

What is white-nose syndrome?
In February 2006 some 40 miles west of Albany, N.Y., a caver photographed hibernating bats with an unusual white substance on their muzzles. He noticed several dead bats. The following winter, bats behaving erratically, bats with white noses, and a few hundred dead bats in several caves came to the attention of New York Department of Environmental Conservation biologists, who documented white-nose syndrome in January 2007. More than a million hibernating bats have died since. Biologists with state and federal agencies and organizations across the country are still trying to find the answer to this deadly mystery.

We have found sick, dying and dead bats in unprecedented numbers in and around caves and mines from New Hampshire to Tennessee. In some hibernacula, 90 to 100 percent of the bats are dying.

While they are in the hibernacula, affected bats often have white fungus on their muzzles and other parts of their bodies. They may have low body fat. These bats often move to cold parts of the hibernacula, fly during the day and during cold winter weather when the insects they feed upon are not available, and exhibit other uncharacteristic behavior.

Despite the continuing search to find the source of this condition by numerous laboratories and state and federal biologists, the cause of the bat deaths remains unknown. A newly discovered cold-loving fungus, Geomyces destructans, invades the skin of bats. Scientists are exploring how the fungus acts and searching for a way to stop it.

 

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[Sim_Player]

I take some comfort in the that these kinds of things have been happening in the plant and animal world since the beginning of time.

It's only been in the past couple hundred years that we've acquired the technology to monitor such events.

Sorry about the mosquitos. They suck!

Nice digs!

Jim

 

[jb58]

Looks like a good day of hunting to me!

 

[sscindercoop]

Nice finds Thanks for the info about the bats.

 

[fathead]

You can make a very simple bat house out of some cedar shingles and you will have your own mini colony of bug catchers.

PS. It is my understanding that most of the new super flus are from bats, so that is another side of the story.

-FH

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

We had a mosquito problem in my yard a few years back. I went to my local garden center and (against the wishes of my wife) purchased a bat house for around $30. I see about 3 or 4 bats each night flying around this time of year. I am seldom bothered by mosquitoes anymore, and it is fun watching the tiny bats flutter around the yard at dusk.

 

[Mr Tuff]

nice silver MR TUFF

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

Nice silver, thanks for telling me about the bats !!

Keep @ it and HH !!

 

[Zarlon]

Good Hunt!! I need to get a bat house.