Audubon group to hear discussion on bats

FARMINGTON – Sue Hagan and Michael Sutton will discuss bats and the disease that is killing them during the Jan. 19 meeting of the East Ozarks Audubon Society.

The public is welcome to the meeting, which begins at  7 p.m. at Memorial United Methodist Church, Farmington. The church is located off Karsch Boulevard.

Hagan and Sutton are cavers and speleologists. They will share information about White Nose Syndrome (WNS), a devastating disease that has destroyed several large bat colonies in the Northeast and which is slowly spreading southward and westward.

Among the questions they will answer: What is WNS? What bat species are affected? What is the potential impact of WNS in Missouri both for bats, cave ecology and for humans? And, is there any hope left for bats?

A social with refreshments will take place immediately before the meeting.