Hikers spread bat-killing fungus
Explorers pick up spores from caves, mines, officials say.
In fable, curiosity killed the cat. But in reality, it’s bats that largely are dying because of curiosity.
Ohio’s bat population has been decimated in recent years by a fungal disease known as white-nose syndrome. It appeared in Ohio in 2011 and has now been confirmed in 19 counties.
Jennifer Norris, the state’s bat biologist for the Ohio Division of Wildlife, believes that it’s probably much more widespread. “I’m guessing it’s across the state,” she said.
One infected bat can carry the deadly disease back to its den and infect an entire colony, killing thousands of bats in a matter of weeks. The fungus also produces billions of spores that can persist in the soil and on the walls of a cave or an abandoned mine, bats’ favored haunts.
Curious hikers and weekend explorers crawl around in those caves or in any of the hundreds of abandoned mines throughout the state, unknowingly picking up white-nose syndrome spores on their clothing and spreading the disease.
“One of the reasons white-nose syndrome is so widespread is human transmission in spore form from site to site,” Norris said.
Consequently, the U.S. Forest Service extended an order last week prohibiting anyone from entering underground mines or tunnels in Wayne National Forest, which covers more than 800,000 acres in three regions in Ohio encompassing Ironton, Athens and Marietta.
Anyone caught violating the order can be punished by a fine of up to $5,000 and six months in prison. Wayne National Forest spokesman Gary Chancey said no citations have been issued since the order went into effect in May 2010.
Beneath the ground of southeastern Ohio are the remnants of the more than 1,100 mines that were in operation from the late 1800s through the early 1900s. There are more than 1,700 mine portals — old entrances and air shafts to the mines — within Wayne National Forest alone. The vast majority of those are considered not accessible. However, 553 still can be entered.
“We know folks are curious. They want to climb in a hole and take a look around,” Chancey said. “But it’s very risky.”
Abandoned mines pose numerous safety risks, including collapse and entrapment and carbonmonoxide poisoning, in addition to the risks posed to Ohio’s bat population.