Coming right up, your daily dose of outdoor news:
White Nose Spreads to N.C.’s Bat Population
White-nose syndrome, a fungal infection that has decimated bat populations in eastern North America, has made its way down to the Nature Conservancy’s Bat Cave Perserve in Rutherford County. The disease gets it’s name from the white fungus that forms around an infected bat’s muzzle, ears, and wing membranes. Since it was first identified in 2006 in upstate New York, white-nose syndrome has spread to 19 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces. Where ever it goes, the disease takes out about 80 percent of the bat population. If you’re thinking: “So, who cares about bats?” Think again. Bats help with insect control and pollination, and experts are predicting long term effects for areas with infected bat populations, like North Carolina. In an effort to protect the bats, the Nature Conservancy has closed it’s Bat Cave Perserve (cue Batman joke) until further notice.
Studies Validate Commuter-Bikers
We all know that biking to work has health benefits. And now we have the science to back us up. Through a four year study of 822 adults, Australian epidemiologist Takemi Sugiyama found that people who commuted to work by car gained more weight, on average, than those who biked or walked to work, even if those car-commuters worked out at a gym in their free time. Researchers have found that sixty to ninety minutes a day of physical activity is required to combat obesity, an amount of time that most people cannot fit into their busy schedules. Active transportation, like biking or walking, that is incorporated into a regular work routine solves this “not having time” problem. Not to mention, biking gets you outdoors which is always a win in our book.
MTV Reality Show Star Found Dead
It’s all over social media, so you know we have to run something, too. Shain Gandee, a cast member on MTV’s reality show “Buckwild,” was found dead in his Ford Bronco Monday morning, along with his uncle and a local man. Tuesday, the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Office ruled the cause of death carbon monoxide poisoning. The group was last seen alive leaving a bar early Sunday morning to go off-road driving, or “mudding.” The truck was found in Sissonville, Ky. submerged in mud past the windows, preventing exhaust fumes from escaping through the tailpipe and leading to Gandee and the other men’s deaths. “Buckwild” premiered on MTV in January and follows nine friends in Sissonville and Charleston, W.Va.
