twilight-for-bats: A bat count in Hellhole cave WV run by West Virginia Department of Natural Resources. The count was not scheduled this year but was done because large numbers of WNS positive bats were flying in the snow around the entrance. Hellhole is WV's largest bat hibernaculum. At the last survey in 2007 there were more than 112,000 bats hibernating in the cave including the world's largest population of Virginia Long Eared Bat. The survey found many sick, dead and dying bats. But the disease seems to mostly be effecting the more common Little Brown Bat.
Virginia Big Eared Bats being measured by Jeff Hajenga of WVDNR.
