This won’t affect me, because the baby-steps caving I’ve done has shown that crawling underground is not my thing, but the national Fish & Wildlife Service is asking for a “voluntary moratorium” on entering caves in areas where bats have white-nose syndrome. That includes New Hampshire (although we’re not much of a caving region, due to our geology).

The official statement (from here): A voluntary moratorium, effective immediately, on all caving activity in states known to have hibernacula affected by WNS, and all adjoining states, unless conducted as part of an agency-sanctioned research or monitoring project. Caves infected with the WNS fungus may not show any obvious signs of its presence, and we do not know the actual geographic distribution of all affected sites. Human activity in affected caves may cause fungal spores and particles to become airborne, thereby contaminating exposed materials and allowing for transport. Although we have confidence in the current protocols for decontamination, there is no way to guarantee efficacy for all equipment in all circumstances, and they may not adequately address needs for technical or vertical gear.

Tags: bats; white-nose syndrome