WHITE NOSE

a plague the government counted — and never let you watch

2006–07
winter 1 of 13

0 counties · 0 states/provinces
0 confirmed · 0 suspected

SPECIES BEING ERASED

WHEN DID IT REACH YOU?

Bats hibernate by the thousands in caves. The fungus finds them in the dark.

WHY THIS COSTS YOU

One little brown bat eats ~1,000 insects an hour. Bats save U.S. farms an estimated $3.7 billion a year in pest control. — Boyles et al., Science 2011

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Report sick or dead bats to your state wildlife agency — don't touch them.
Decontaminate shoes & gear before and after caves; the fungus travels on us, too.
Respect cave & mine closures during hibernation (Nov–Apr).
Back the people fighting it — Bat Conservation International & local rehabbers.

confirmed white-nose
fungus detected (suspect)

real data: USGS / USFWS white-nose syndrome occurrence map · 555 counties · 13 winters · source

DATA.PUNK · WEEK 3

WHITE NOSE

In a cave near Albany, NY, in the winter of 2006, bats started dying with white fungus on their faces. In thirteen winters it crossed the entire continent — Seattle to the Carolinas — and killed millions. The feds tracked every county. Nobody built you a way to watch it happen. So I did.

In one breath: a cold-loving fungus (Pseudogymnoascus destructans) grows on hibernating bats, jolts them awake all winter, and they burn their fat and starve before spring. Each glowing dot below is a real county where USGS confirmed it — lighting up the winter it arrived.

Press play and watch the white spread out of New York, winter by winter, 2006 → 2019 — including the night it leapt 1,300 miles to Washington State. Hover any dot. Pick your state to see when it reached you, and which bats it's wiping out.

For the people on the night shift — the wildlife rehabbers who warm, feed, and fight for these animals one bat at a time. This one's for Natasha. 🦇