Bats At Devil’s Lake Wiped Out By White Nose Syndrome

6/21/17 – One of Wisconsin’s most popular state parks has been hit hard with the fungal bat disease white nose syndrome. A naturalist at Devils Lake State Park near Baraboo says it lost nine of every ten brown bats during the past year. The park now has about 20 left, not enough to offer a bat-watching program at the park this summer. The state D-N-R says the deadly bat disease has been confirmed in 14 counties – including Dodge County – covering much of the southern one third of the state plus counties close to the Mississippi River. White nose syndrome first arrived in southwest Wisconsin three years ago, raising concerns for cave explorer as well as farmers who rely on bats for eating insects before they can damage crops.