Results tagged “bats”

It was just earlier this week that Prince George's County was warning its residents of a marked increase in rabid bat activity, and now the District of Columbia Department of Health is following suit. The rabid bat menace has reached D.C.'s borders.

Bats can do more than shape-shift and turn you into a vampire — they can also give you rabies! And Prince George's County health officials are now warning residents that they've recorded an increase in rabid bat activity in the area, the Post reports. Nine PG County bats have tested positive for rabies since the beginning of August, and at least one person has come into contact with one and been subsequently preemptively treated for rabies. County officials are urging residents to bat proof their homes by repairing any holes, using window screens and closing doors tightly.

Are bats the new honeybees? They have been disappearing by the colony in the Northeast over the last three years, killed by white nose syndrome -- a fearsome fungus that strikes bats while they are hibernating. Now, bats in Virginia and West Virginia have been discovered with the tell-tale white fuzz on their muzzles and wings. The Washington Post reports that white nose syndrome has infected colonies at Breathing Cave in Bath County and Clover Hollow in Giles County, both Virginia populations that scientists thought were at a safe remove from infected bats.