Bat pair at home

White Nose Syndrome, a bat-killing affliction first noticed in caves in upstate New York in the winter of 2006-07, has laid waste to our populations of these important and delightful insect predators, and as near as anyone can determine, nearly 6 million bats have died from the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, or pd. (This fungus was formerly known as Geomyces destructans). Every year since White-nose surfaced, I've kept vigil, searching the skies for bats that have somehow managed to come through winter hibernation unscathed. This year, I've seen very few of the flying mammals, and I feared that dire warnings about local extinctions had come true. But just as Mark Twain suggested about his demise—that rumors about him kicking the bucket were "greatly exaggerated"—not all of our bats have succumbed. For the past few nights, as the temperatures stayed warm, I noticed at least a few bats of various sizes patrolling the twilight. I have no way of knowing whether this is true, but I'd like to believe that I might even be seeing a family group at work. What I'm not seeing, alas, is terrific images. National Geographic is not going to be calling, but at least I've got a record of bat activity in the neighborhood. The fungus may be here, but it hasn't yet purged dusk of ghostly fliers.