Fish and wildlife officials are asking the public to report any
winter sightings of live or dead bats after a northern long-
eared bat was recently found. Rosemary Curley of the Department
of Agriculture and Forestry says bats do not normally overwinter
in large numbers in P.E.I., so the bat may have been blown to
the island from Nova Scotia or New Brunswick in a storm. She
says they are working with staff at the Atlantic Veterinary
College to determine if this is the first reported case of the
syndrome. The government says preliminary findings indicate the
bat was likely suffering from white nose syndrome, a fatal
fungal infection. It has hit bat populations across a large part
of eastern North America.