Is White Nose Syndrome affecting Rockaway Townships Bats?

 Rockaway Township residents have reported sightings of bats in the area at a time when bats are normally hibernating.  The Township Health Department has contacted the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) and has been informed that their biologists are conducting an ongoing investigation to determine whether an illness called White Nose Syndrome (WNS) is affecting bats in this region.  To that end the biologists have documented bat activities in the Township that are consistent with the current case definition of what constitutes WNS affected sites. It is the position of the NJ Department of Environmental Protection that the bats under study in Rockaway Township are now affected by WNS. The state has sent specimens to the USGS National Wildlife Health Center in Wisconsin for confirmatory testing.

 WNS can cause bats to leave hibernation and fly outside, potentially into houses and other buildings, or to be found sick on the ground. Typically, WNS affected bats will only be found within an approximately two-mile radius of the affected mine or cave. WNS has been present and studied in other states and is associated with the deaths of more than 100,000 hibernating bats in the northeastern United States. Biologists are very concerned over the recent mass die-offs of bat populations in the northeast. Worldwide, bats play critical ecological roles in insect control, plant pollination and seed dispersal, and further declines of North American bat populations would likely have far-reaching ecological consequences.

 There is no indication that WNS is contagious to humans or other animals. The affected caves and mines have been visited by thousands of people over the past two years, yet there have been no reported illnesses attributable to WNS. However, because we are still learning about WNS state officials advise people to avoid direct contact with any bats. 

 Based on the experiences of other states this bat activity is likely to continue throughout the winter.  Therefore, the DEP is requesting that residents take the following precautions when encountering dead or dying bats:

 ·         Contact the DEP’s Division of Fish and Wildlife by telephone at: (908) 638-4127. If nobody is available to answer your call please leave your name, phone number and a brief message and a biologist will return your call;

·         Do not touch any live, dead or dying bats with your bare hands;

·         If you need to dispose of a dead bat, or bats, found on your property, use rubber gloves and pick it up with a plastic bag over your hand. Place both the bat and the bag into a second plastic bag, add about a half cup of 10 % household bleach solution to the bag (1 part bleach to 9 parts water), close it securely, shake the contents so the bleach coats the bat and dispose of it with your garbage.

·         Wash your hands and any clothing that comes into contact with the bat thoroughly.

 Should a resident find a live bat inside a home or other building, do not attempt to capture it.  If it is on the ground, place something over it so that it cannot escape.  Do not attempt to catch a bat on the wall or ceiling.  Call the Rockaway Township Police Department at 973-625-4000 and they will contact the Animal Control Officer on duty to collect the bat.

 For further information on WNS please visit the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's website at: www.fws.gov/northeast/white_nose.html